THE  KING  OF  SPAIN  AND  THE  QUEEN  REGENT 

Spain,  Frontispiece. 


SPAIN 


AND 


HER  COLONIES 


COMPILED  FROM  THE  BEST  AUTHORITIES 


BY 


ARCHIBALD  WILBERFORCE 


ILLUSTRATED 


I 


NEW  YORK 

PETER  FENELON  COLLIER 

MDCCCXCVIll 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 
SPAIS  IN  ANTIQUITT 5 

CHAPTER  II 
THE  CALIPHATE  OF  COBDOVA 14 

CHAPTER  HI 
MEDIEVAL  SPAIN 28 

CHAPTER  IV 
MOORISH  SPAIN 58 

CHAPTER  V 
THE  INQUISITION 80 

CHAPTER  VI 
THEIR  CATHOLIC  MAJESTIES 96 

CHAPTER  VII 
UNITED  SPAIN 135 

CHAPTER  VIII 
MODERN  SPAIN 156 

CHAPTER   IX 
COLONIAL  SPAIN 199 

CHAPTER  X 
THE  PALL  OF  AN  EMPIRE 218 

CHAPTER   XI 
THE  PHILIPPINES. 244 

CHAPTER  XII 
THE  HISPANO- AMERICAN  WAR , 313 

CHAPTER  XIII 

SPANISH  ART,  LITERATURE,  AND  SPORT 328 

I.  Painting  and  Architecture 328 

II.  Spanish  Literature ....  341 

III.  Sport ; 347 

APPENDIX ..  356 


2227077 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


SPAIN 

Frontispiece — The  King  of  Spain  and  the  Queen  Regent  . 
View  of  Cadiz       .         .         -         .         •         ...» 

Alicanti         •         •  • • 

War  Ministry  Department 


HISTORY  OF  SPAIN 


CHAPTER   I 

SPAIN   IN  ANTIQUITY 

THE    FIRST    LAWS    AND    THE    FIRST    INVADERS  —  GREEKS, 
PHOENICIANS,   ROMANS  AND  GOTHS 

HISPANTA  was  the  name  by  which  the  Romans  called 
the  peninsula  which  is  made  up  of  Spain  and  Portugal. 
The  origin  of  the  name  is  disputed.  To  the  Greeks  the 
country  was  known  as  Hesperia — the  Land  of  the  Setting 
Sun.  According  to  Mariana,*  Spain  is  called  after  its 
founder,  Hispanus,  a  son  or  grandson  of  Hercules.  But, 
for  reasons  hereinafter  related,  better  authorities  derive  it 
from  the  Phoenician  Span. 

There  is  a  legend  which  Mariana  recites,  to  the  effect 
that  the  primal  laws  of  Spain  were  written  in  verse,  and 
framed  six  thousand  years  before  the  beginning  of  Time. 
To  medieval  makers  of  chronicles,  Tubal,  fifth  son  of 
Japhet,  was  the  first  to  set  foot  on  its  shore.  But  ear- 
lier historians,  ignorant  of  Noah's  descendant,  and,  it  may 
be,  better  informed,  hold  that  after  the  episodes  connected 
with  the  Golden  Fleece,  the  Argonauts,  guided  by  Her- 

*  "Historia  general  de  Espana,"  by  Juan  de  Mariana. 
9  vols.,  Valencia,  1783-96. 

(5) 


6  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

eules,  sailed  the  seas  and  loitered  a  while  iu  Spain,  where 
they  were  joined  by  refugees  escaping  from  the  totter  and 
fall  of  Troy.  Black  was  their  national  color.  It  has  been 
retained  in  the  mantillas  of  to-day.  After  the  Greek  ad- 
yenturers  came  the  Phoenicians.  The  latter,  a  peaceful 
people,  born  traders,  as  are  all  of  Semitic  origin,  founded 
a  colony  at  Gaddir  (Cadiz).  In  a  remoter  era  they  had 
established  themselves  at  Canaan,  where  they  built  Bylos, 
Sidon  and  Tyre.  From  Tyre  emigrants  moved  to  Africa. 
Their  headquarters  was  Kartha-Hadath,  literally  New- 
town,  that  Carthage  in  whose  ruins  Marius  was  to  weep. 
The  Phoenicians,  as  has  been  noted,  were  a  peaceful  peo- 
ple. Under  a  burning  sun  their  younger  brothers  devel- 
oped into  tigers.  They  had  the  storm  for  ally.  They 
ravaged  the  coast  like  whirlwinds.  They  took  Sicily,  then 
Sardinia.  Presently  there  was  a  quarrel  at  Gaddir.  It 
was  only  natural  that  the  Phoenicians  should  ask  aid  of 
their  relatives.  The  Carthaginians  responded,  and,  find- 
ing the  country  to  their  taste,  took  possession  of  it  on  their 
own  account.  To  the  Romans,  with  whom  already  they 
had  crossed  swords,  they  said  nothing  of  this  new  posses- 
sion. It  seemed  wiser  to  leave  it  unmentioned  than  to 
guard  it  with  protecting,  yet  disclosive,  treaties.  More 
than  once  they  scuttled  their  triremes — suspicious  sails 
were  following  them  to  its  shore.  From  this  vigilance 
the  name  of  Spain  is  derived.  In  Punic,  Span  signifies 
hidden. 

The  hiding  of  Spain  was  possible  when  the  Romans 
were  still  in  the  nursery.  But  when  the  Romans  grew 
up,  when  they  had  conquered  Greece,  and  all  of  Italy  was 
theirs,  their  enterprises  developed.  Up  to  this  time  the 


SPAIN  IN   ANTIQUITY.  7 

two  nations  had  been  almost  allies.  At  once  they  were 
open  rivals.  It  was  a  question  between  them  as  to  whom 
the  world  should  belong. 

The  arguments  on  this  subject,  known  as  the  Punic 
Wars,  were  three  hi  number.  The  first  resulted  in  a  loss 
of  Sicily  and  Sardinia.  In  the  second,  Spain  went.  In 
the  third,  Carthage  was  razed  to  the  ground. 

It  was  with  the  conquest  of  Sagentum — a  conquest  not 
achieved  until  the  surviving  inhabitants  of  that  beleaguered 
city  had  committed  suicide — that  annexation  began.  Then, 
slowly,  at  one  time  advancing,  at  another  retreating,  now 
defeated,  now  defeating,  the  Romans  promenaded  their 
eagles  down  the  coast.  Scipio  came  and  watched  the  self- 
destruction  of  the  Numantians,  as  Hannibal  had  watched 
the  Sagentums  fall.  Pompey,  boasting  that  he  had  made 
the  Republic  mistress  of  a  thousand  towns,  came  too;  and 
after  him  Caesar,  who,  long  before,  as  simple  quaestor,  had 
wept  at  Cadiz  because  of  Alexander,  who  at  his  age  had 
conquered  the  world — Caesar,  his  face  blanched  with  tire- 
less debauches,  came  back  and  gave  the  land  its  coup  de 
grace.  In  this  fashion,  with  an  unhealed  wound  in  every 
province,  Spain  crawled  down  to  Augustus's  feet.  A  toga 
was  thrown  over  her.  When  it  was  withdrawn  the  wounds 
had  healed.  She  was  a  Roman  province,  the  most  flourish- 
ing, perhaps,  and  surely  the  most  fair. 

The  fusion  of  the  two  peoples  was  immediate.  The 
native  soldiery  were  sent  off  to  bleed  in  the  four  corners 
of  the  globe,  to  that  Ultima  Thule  where  the  Britons  lived 
and  which  it  took  years  to  reach,  or  nearer  home  in  Gaul, 
or  else  far  to  the  north  among  the  Teuton  States ;  and,  in 
the  absence  of  an  element  which  might  have  turned  ugly, 


8  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

the  Romans  found  it  easy  work  to  open  school.  They  had 
always  been  partial  to  Greek  learning,  and  they  inculcated 
it  on  the  slightest  pretext.  They  imported  then*  borrowed 
Pantheon,  their  local  Hercules,  all  the  metamorphosed  and 
irritable  gods,  and  with  becoming  liberality  added  to  them 
those  divinities  whom  their  adopted  children  most  revered. 
It  was  in  this  way  that  the  fusion  of  the  two  races  came 
about.  When  Augustus  assumed  the  purple,  throughout 
the  entire  peninsula  Latin  was  generally  in  use.  It  was 
not  of  the  purest,  to  be  sure.  It  had  been  beaten  in  with 
the  sword,  the  accent  was  rough  and  the  construction 
bristled  with  barbarisms ;  but  still  it  was  Latin,  and  needed 
only  a  generation  of  sandpaper  to  become  polished  and  re- 
fined. But  perhaps  the  least  recognized  factor  hi  the  fusion 
of  the  two  peoples  was  a  growing  and  common  taste  for 
polite  literature.  Such  as  the  Romans  possessed  was,  like 
their  architecture,  their  science,  philosophy  and  religion,  bor- 
rowed outright  from  the  Greeks.  They  were  hungry  for 
new  ideas.  These  the  Spaniards  undertook  to  provide. 
They  had  descended  from  a  race  whose  fabulous  laws 
were  written  in  verse,  and  something  of  that  legendary 
inspiration  must  have  accompanied  them  through  ages  of 
preceding  strife,  for  suddenly  Boetica  was  peopled  with 
poets.  In  connection  with  this  it  may  be  noted  that,  apart 
from  the  crop  of  Augustan  rhymsters  and  essayists,  almost 
everything  in  the  way  of  literature  which  Rome  subse- 
quently produced  is  the  work  of  Spaniards.  Lucan  and 
the  Senecas  were  Boeticans — Martial,  Floras,  Quintillian, 
Pomponius  Mila  were  all  of  that  race.  J'en  passe  et  des 
meilleurs.  The  Romans,  trained  by  the  Greeks,  were,  it  is 
true,  the  teachers.  Under  their  heavy  hand  the  young  An- 


SPAIN   IN   ANTIQUITY.  9 

dalusians  lost  their  way  among  the  clouds  of  Aristophanes, 
just  as  we  have  done  ourselves;  they  spouted  the  Tityre 
tu,  and  the  arma  virum,  they  followed  the  Odyssey  and 
learned  that  in  ages  as  remote  to  them  as  they  are  to 
us,  Ulysses  had  visited  their  coast.  Indeed  the  Romans 
did  what  they  could,  and  if  their  pupils  surpassed  them  it 
was  owing  to  the  lack-luster  of  their  own  imaginations. 
But  the  education  of  backward  Spain  was  not  limited  to 
Greek  poets  and  Augustan  bores.  Lessons  in  drawing  were 
given,  not  as  an  extra,  but  as  part  of  the  ordinary  curricu- 
lum. The  sciences,  too,  were  taught,  the  blackboard  was 
brought  into  use,  and  Euclid — another  Greek — was  ex- 
pounded on  the  very  soil  that  under  newer  conquerors  was 
to  produce  the  charms  and  seductions  of  Algebra.  Added 
to  this,  industry  was  not  neglected.  The  Romans  got  from 
them  not  poets  alone,  but  woolens,  calicoes,  and  barbers  too, 
emperors  even.  Trajan  was  an  Andalou,  so  was  Hadrian, 
and  so  also  was  that  sceptered  misanthrope  Marcus  Aure- 
lius.  As  for  arms,  it  is  written  in  blood  that  the  Romans 
would  have  no  others  than  those  which  came  from  Spain. 
The  plebs  dressed  themselves  there.  Strabo  says  that  all 
the  ready-made  clothing  came  from  Tarragona.  From 
Malaga,  which  in  a  fair  wind  was  but  six  days'  sail  from 
the  Tiber's  mouth,  came  potted  herring,  fat,  black  grapes 
that  stained  the  chin,  and  wax  yellow  as  amber.  From 
Cadiz  came  the  rarest  purple,  wine  headier  than  Faler- 
nian,  honey  sweeter  than  that  of  Hymettus,  and  jars  of 
pale,  transparent  oil.  To  I  vie.  a  the  Romans  sent  their  to- 
gas; there  was  a  baphia  there,  a  dyeing  establishment, 
which,  to  be  simply  charming,  needed  but  the  signboard 
Morituri  te  salutamus.  And  from  the  banks  of  the  Betis 


10  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

there  came  for  the  lupanars  girls  with  the  Orient  in  their 
eyes,  and  lips  that  said  "Drink  me."  In  this  pleasant 
fashion  Rome,  after  conquering  Spain,  sat  down  to  banquet 
on  her  products.  The  Imperial  City  then  was  not  unlike  a 
professional  pugilist  who  is  unable  to  find  a  worthy  oppo- 
nent; possible  rivals  had  been  slugged  into  subjection.  Per- 
haps she  was  weary,  too.  However  great  the  future  of  a 
combatant  may  be,  there  comes  an  hour  when  contention 
palls  and  peace  has  charms.  In  any  event,  Rome  at  that 
time  was  more  occupied  in  assimilating  her  dominions  than 
in  extending  the  wonders  of  her  sway.  And  it  was  during 
this  caprice  that  Spain  found  her  fifty  races  fused  in  one. 
On  the  distant  throne  was  a  procession  of  despots,  terribly 
tyrannical,  yet  doing  what  good  they  could.  In  return  for 
flowers,  fruits  and  pretty  girls,  they  gave  roads,  aqueducts, 
arenas,  games  and  vice.  Claud  introduced  new  fashions; 
Nero,  the  saturnalia.  Each  of  the  emperors  did  what  he 
was  able,  even  to  Hadrian,  who  increased  the  number  of 
Jews.  It  was  during  his  reign  that  were  felt  the  first 
tremors  of  that  cataclysm  in  which  antiquity  was  to  dis- 
appear. Rome  was  so  thoroughly  mistress  of  the  world 
that  to  master  her  Nature  had  to  produce  new  races.  The 
parturitions,  as  we  know,  were  successful.  Already  the 
blue  victorious  eyes  of  Vandal  and  of  Goth  were  peering 
down  at  Rome;  already  they  had  whispered  together,  and 
over  the  hydromel  had  drunk  to  her  fall. 

'  The  Goths  were  a  wonderful  people.  When  they  first 
appear  in  history  then*  hair  was  tossed  and  tangled  by  the 
salt  winds  of  the  Baltic.  Later,  when  in  tattered  furs  they 
issued  from  the  fens  of  the  Danube,  they  startled  the  hard- 
iest warriors  of  the  world,  the  descendants  of  that  nursling 


SPAIN   IN    ANTIQUITY.  11 

of  the  gaunt  she-wolf.  Little  by  little  from  vagabond  herd- 
ers they  consolidated  first  into  tribes,  then  into  a  nation, 
finally  into  an  army  that  beat  at  the  gates  of  Rome. 
There  they  loitered  a  moment,  a  century  at  most.  "When 
they  receded  again  with  plunder  and  with  slaves  they  left 
an  emperor  behind.  Soon  they  were  more  turbulent  than 
ever.  They  swept  over  antiquity  like  a  tide,  their  waves 
subsiding  only  to  rise  anew.  And  just  as  the  earth  was 
oscillating  beneath  their  weight,  from  the  steppes  of  Tar- 
tary  issued  cyclones  of  Huns.  Where  they  passed,  the 
plains  remained  forever  bare.  In  the  shock  of  their  on- 
slaught the'  empire  of  the  Goths  was  sundered.  Some  of 
them,  the  Ostrogoths,  went  back  to  their  cattle,  others,  the 
Visigoths,  went  down  to  have  another  word  with  Rome.  It 
was  then  that  their  cousins  the  Vandals  got  their  fingers  on 
her  throat  and  frightened  the  world  with  her  cries.  In  the 
strain  of  incessant  shrieks  the  Imperial  City  fell.  From  out 
the  ruins  a  mitered  prelate  dragged  a  throne.  Paganism  had 
been  strangled;  antiquity  was  dead;  new  creeds  and  new 
races  were  refurbishing  the  world.  Among  the  latter  the 
Goths  still  prowled.  In  the  advance  through  the  centuries, 
in  the  journey  from  the  Baltic  to  the  Mediterranean,  in  the 
friction  with  the  Attic  refinement  which  the  Romans  had 
acquired,  the  Goths  left  some  of  their  barbarism  on  the  road 
— not  much,  however.  Historians  have  it  that  when  they 
took  possession  of  Spain  they  manifested  a  love  of  art,  a 
desire  for  culture,  and  that  they  affected  the  manners  and 
usages  of  polite  society.  But  historians  are  privileged  liars. 
The  majority  of  those  who  have  treated  the  subject  admired 
the  Goths  because  they  fancied  them  Christians,  and  in  the 
admiration  they  placed  them  in  flattering  contrast  to  their 


12  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

predecessors  who  were  pagans,  and  to  their  successors  who 
were  Muhammadans.  As  a  matter  of  fact — one  that  is  amply 
attested  in  local  chronicles — they  were  coarse,  illiterate  and 
stupid  as  carps;  moreover,  they  were  not  Christians,  they 
were  Arians,  and  they  were  Arians  precisely  as  they  were 
Goths — they  were  born  so.  To  the  dogma  of  the  Trinity  and 
the  consubstantiability  or  non-consubstantiability  of  Jesus 
the  Christ  they  were  as  ignorant  as  of  the  formation  of  the 
earth.  Throughout  Europe  at  that  time  not  a  thread  of 
light  was  discernible.  The  dark  ages  had  begun.  In  the 
general  obscurity  the  Goths  were  not  a  bit  more  brilliant 
than  their  neighbors.  Under  their  hand  civilization  disap- 
peared ;  in  return  they  gave  the  Spanish  nothing  but  guttur- 
als and  a  taste  for  chicanery.  In  ninety  and  nine  cases,  the 
specimens  of  architecture  which  cheap-trippers  admire  as 
due  to  them  are  of  Saracen  workmanship.  The  monuments 
which  they  did  erfct  are  not  disproportioned  perhaps;  yet, 
whatever  the  casuist  may  affirm,  there  is  still  a  margin  be- 
tween the  commonplace  and  the  beautiful.  In  brief,  to  the 
Visigoths  the  world  owes  less  than  nothing.  They  let  Anda- 
lusia retrograde  for  three  hundred  years,  and  delayed  the  dis- 
covery and  development  of  America.  Previous  to  their  com- 
ing Cadiz  had  been  a  famous  seaport.  The  Romans  called  it 
The  Ship  of  Stone.  Its  sons  had  been  immemorial  explorers. 
The  presentment  of  another  land  across  the  sea  was  theirs  by 
intuition.  They  were  constantly  extending  their  expeditions. 
They  were  in  love  with  the  sunset,  they  sailed  as  near  it  as 
they  could,  returned  for  more  provisions,  and  sailed  again; 
nearer,  and  ever  nearer  that  way.  To  the  Church  the  theory 
of  the  antipodes  was  an  abominable  heresy.  It  was  taught 
that  the  earth  was  a  flat  parallelogram,  its  extremities  walled 


SPAIN   IN   ANTIQUITY.  13 

by  mountains  that  supported  the  skies.  Lactance  was  par- 
ticularly vehement  on  this  point,  so  too  was  St.  Jerome. 
Vergilius  in  asserting  the  contrary  threw  Christendom  into 
indignant  convulsions.  It  may  be  remembered  that  the 
most  serious  obstacle  which  Columbus  subsequently  encoun- 
tered lay  in  the  decisions  of  the  Fathers.  Now  Cadiz  had 
been  more  or  less  converted  before  the  advent  of  the  Visi- 
goths, but  it  had  not  for  that  reason  put  aside  its  habits  and 
customs.  It  continued  to  be  essentially  maritime,  but  when 
the  Visigoths  came,  navigation  languished,  the  Ship  of 
Stone  no  longer  turned  to  the  west,  it  foundered  in  a  sea 
of  ignorance  which  was  then  undyked,  and  the  possible 
discovery  of  America  was  indefinitely  postponed.  By  way 
of  compensation,  the  Visigoths  framed  a  code  of  laws  the 
spirit  of  which  still  survives,  and  which  is  serviceable  in 
showing  that  the  framers  possessed  two  distinct  traits,  a 
love  of  agriculture  and  a  hatred  of  Jews.  Traits  which  are 
significant  when  it  is  understood  that  it  was  through  agri- 
culture they  were  supported  and  through  the  Jews  they  were 
overthrown.  It  was  the  Jews  that  beckoned  the  Berbers 
and  their  masters  the  Arabs — the  Moors,  as  those  Arabs 
were  called  who  had  deserted  the  deserts  for  the  African 
Riviera. 


CHAPTER    II 

THE  CALIPHATE  OF   CORDOVA 

THE  CRESCENT  AND  THE  CROSS— CORDOVA   IN  THE  MIDDLE 

AGES— THE  GLORIES  OF  AZ  ZAHRA— THE  RISE  OF 

ALMANZOR 

IT  was  in  712  that  Spain,  after  remaining  for  nearly 
three  centuries  in  the  possession  of  the  Visigoths,  fell  under 
the  yoke  of  the  Saracens.  For  some  time  past,  from  a 
palace  at  Tandjah  (Tangiers),  a  Mussulman  emir  had  been 
eying  the  strip  of  blue  water  which  alone  separated  him 
from  that  Andalusia  which,  like  the  other  parts  of  this 
world  and  all  of  the  next,  had  been  promised  to  the  fol- 
lowers of  Muhammad.  The  invasion  that  ensued  was  sin- 
gularly pacific.  The  enthusiasm  which  distinguished  the 
youthful  period  of  Muhammadism  might  accoimt  for  the 
conquest  which  followed,  even  if  we  could  not  assign  addi- 
tional causes — the  factions  into,  which  the  Goths  had  become 
divided,  the  resentment  of  disappointed  pretenders  to  the 
throne,  the  provocations  of  one  Count  Julian,  whose  daugh- 
ter, seduced  by  Roderic,  the  last  of  the  Gothic  kings,  caused 
him,  it  is  said,  to  urge  the  Moors  to  come  over.  It  is  more 
surprising  that  a  remnant  of  this  ancient  monarchy  should 
not  only  have  preserved  its  national  liberty  and  name  in  the 
northern  mountains,  but  waged  for  some  centuries  a  suc- 
cessful, and  generally  an  offensive,  warfare  against  the  con- 
querors, till  the  balance  was  completely  turned  in  its  favor 
(14) 


THE   CALIPHATE    OF   CORDOVA.  15 

and  the  Moors  were  compelled  to  maintain  almost  as  ob- 
stinate and  protracted  a  contest  for  a  small  portion  of  the 
peninsula.  But  the  Arabian  monarchs  of  Cordova  found  in 
their  success  and  imagined  security  a  pretext  for  indolence; 
even  in  the  cultivation  of  science  and  contemplation  of  the 
magnificent  architecture  of  their  mosques  and  palaces  they 
forgot  their  poor  but  daring  enemies  in  the  Asturias ;  while, 
according  to  the  nature  of  despotism,  the  fruits  of  wisdom 
or  bravery  in  one  generation  were  lost  in  the  follies  and 
effeminacy  of  the  next.  Their  kingdom  was  dismembered 
by  successful  rebels,  who  formed  the  states  of  Toledo, 
Huesca,  Saragossa,  and  others  less  eminent;  and  these,  in 
their  own  mutual  contests,  not  only  relaxed  their  natural 
enmity  toward  the  Christian  princes,  but  sometimes  sought 
their  alliance. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  of  all  who  had  entered  Spain, 
whether  Greek,  Phoenician,  Vandal  or  Goth,  the  Moors  were 
the  most  tolerant.  The  worship  of  God  was  undisturbed. 
The  temples  were  not  only  preserved,  new  ones  were  built. 
In  every  town  they  entered,  presto!  a  mosque  and  a 
school,  and  mosques  and  schools  that  were  entrancing  as 
song.  On  the  banks  of  the  Betis,  renamed  the  Great 
River,  Al-Ouad-al-Kebyr  (Guadalquivir),  twelve  hundred 
villages  bloomed  like  roses  in  June.  From  three  hun- 
dred thousand  filigreed  pulpits  the  glory  of  Allah,  and 
of  Muhammad  his  prophet,  was  daily  proclaimed. 

They  were  superb  fellows,  these  Moors.  In  earlier 
ages  the  restless  Bedouins,  their  ancestors,  were  rather 
fierce,  and  when  the  degenerate  Sabaism  they  professed 
was  put  aside  for  the  lessons  of  Muhammad,  they  were 
not  only  fierce,  they  were  fanatic  as  well.  A  drop  of 


16  HISTORY    OF  SPAIN. 

blood  shed  for  Allah,  equaled,  they  were  taught,  whole 
months  of  fasting  and  of  prayer.  Thereafter,  they 
preached  with  the  scimiter.  But  in  time,  that  great 
emollient,  they  grew  less  dogmatic.  In  the  ninth  cent- 
ury the  court  of  Haroun  al  Raschid,  was  a  free  academy 
in  which  all  the  arts  were  cultivated  and  enjoyed.  Un- 
der the  Moors,  Cordova  surpassed  Bagdad. 

In  the  tenth  century  it  was  the  most  beautiful  and 
most  civilized  city  of  Europe.  Concerning  it  Burke,  in 
his  "History  of  Spain" — a  work  to  which  we  are  much 
indebted — writes  as  follows: 

There  was  the  Caliph's  Palace  of  Flowers,  his  Palace 
of  Contentment,  his  Palace  of  Lovers,  and,  most  beauti- 
ful of  all,  the  Palace  of  Damascus.  Rich  and  poor  met 
in  the  Mezquita,  the  noblest  place  of  worship  then  stand- 
ing in  Europe,  with  its  twelve  hundred  marble  columns, 
and  its  twenty  brazen  doors;  the  vast  interior  resplend- 
ent with  porphyry  and  jasper  and  many  colored  precious 
stones,  the  walls  glittering  with  harmonious  mosaics,  the 
air  perfumed  with  incense,  the  courtyards  leafy  with 
groves  of  orange  trees — showing  apples  of  gold  in  pict- 
ures of  silver.  Throughout  the  city,  there  were  foun- 
tains, basins,  baths,  with  cold  water  brought  from  the 
neighboring  mountains,  already  carried  in  the  leaden 
pipes  that  are  the  highest  triumph  of  the  modern 
plumber. 

But  more  wonderful  even  than  Cordova  itself  was  the 
suburb  and  palace  of  Az  Zahra.  For  five-and-twenty 
years  the  Caliph  Abdur  Rahman  devoted  to  the  building 
of  this  royal  fancy  one-third  of  the  revenues  of  the  State; 


THE    CALIPHATE   OF    CORDOVA.  17 

and  the  work,  on  his  death,  was  piously  continued  by 
his  son,  who  devoted  the  first  fifteen  years  of  his  reign 
to  its  completion.  For  forty  years  ten  thousand  work- 
men are  said  to  have  toiled  day  by  day,  and  the  record 
of  the  refinement  as  well  as  the  magnificence  of  the  struc- 
ture, as  it  approached  completion,  almost  passes  belief. 
It  is  said  that  in  a  moment  of  exaltation  the  Caliph  gave 
orders  for  the  removal  of  the  great  mountain  at  whose 
foot  the  fairy  city  was  built,  as  the  dark  shade  of  the 
forests  that  covered  its  sides  overshadowed  the  gilded 
palace  of  his  creation. 

Convinced  of  the  impossibility  of  his  enterprise,  An 
Nasir  was  content  that  all  the  oaks  and  beech  trees  that 
grew  on  the  mountain  side  should  be  rooted  up;  and 
that  fig  trees,  and  almonds,  and  pomegranates  should  be 
planted  in  their  place;  and  thus  the  very  hills  and  for- 
ests of  Az  Zahra  were  decked  with  blossom  and  beauty. 

Travelers  from  distant  lands,  men  of  all  ranks  and 
professions,  princes,  embassadors,  merchants,  pilgrims, 
theologians  and  poets,  all  agreed  that  they  had  never 
seen  in  the  course  of  their  travels  anything  that  could 
be  compared  with  Az  Zahra,  and  that  no  imagination, 
however  fertile,  could  have  formed  an  idea  of  its  beau- 
ties. Of  this  marvelous  creation  of  Art  and  Fancy  not 
one  stone  remains  upon  another — not  a  vestige  to  mark 
the  spot  on  which  it  stood;  and  it  is  hard  to  reconstruct 
from  the  dry  records  of  Arab  historians  the  fairy  edifice 
of  which  we  are  told  no  words  could  paint  the  magnifi- 
cence. According  to  these  authors  the  inclosing  wall  of 
the  palace  was  four  thousand  feet  in  length  from  east 
to  west,  and  two  thousand  two  hundred  feet  from  north 


18  HISTORY   OF  SPAIN. 

to  south.  The  greater  part  of  this  space  was  occupied 
by  gardens,  with  their  marble  fountains,  kiosks  and  orna- 
ments of  various  kinds,  not  inferior  in  beauty  to  the  more 
strictly  architectural  parts  of  the  building. 

Four  thousand  three  hundred  columns  of  the  rarest 
and  most  precious  marbles  supported  the  roof  of  the  pal- 
ace; of  these  some  were  brought  from  Africa,  some  from 
Rome,  and  many  were  presented  by  the  Emperor  at  Con- 
stantinople to  Abdur  Rahman.  The  halls  were  paved 
with  marble,  disposed  in  a  thousand  varied  patterns. 
The  walls  were  of  the  same  material,  and  ornamented 
with  friezes  of  the  most  brilliant  colors.  The  ceilings, 
constructed  of  cedar,  were  enriched  with  gilding  on  an 
azure  ground,  with  damasked  work  and  interlacing  de- 
signs. Everything,  in  short,  that  the  wealth  and  re- 
sources of  the  Caliph  could  command  was  lavished  on 
this  favorite  retreat,  and  all  that  the  art  of  Constanti- 
nople and  Bagdad  could  contribute  to  aid  the  taste  and 
executive  skill  of  the  Spanish  Arabs  was  enlisted  to  make 
it  the  most  perfect  work  of  its  age.  Did  this  palace  of 
Zahra  now  remain  to  us,  says  Mr.  Fergusson,  we  could 
afford  to  despise  the  Alhambra  and  all  the  other  works 
of  the  declining  ages  of  Moorish  art. 

It  was  here  that  Abdur  Rahman  an  Nasir  received 
Sancho  the  Fat,  and  Theuda,  queen  of  Navarre,  the  en- 
voys from  Charles  the  Simple  of  France,  and  the  embas- 
sadors  from  the  Emperor  Constantino  at  Constantinople. 
The  reception  of  these  imperial  visitors  is  said  to  have 
been  one  of  the  most  magnificent  ceremonies  of  that 
magnificent  court.  The  orator  who  had  been  at  first  in- 
trusted with  the  speech  of  ceremonial  greeting,  was  act- 


THE   CALIPHATE    OF    CORDOVA.  19 

ually  struck  dumb  by  the  grandeur  of  the  scene,  and  his 
place  was  taken  by  a  less  impressionable  rhetorician. 

Nor  was  it  only  material  splendor  that  was  to  be  found 
at  Cordova.  At  a  time  when  Christian  Europe  was  steeped 
in  ignorance  and  barbarism,  in  superstition  and  prejudice, 
every  branch  of  science  was  studied  under  the  favor  and 
protection  of  the  Ommeyad  Caliphs.  Medicine,  surgery, 
botany,  chemistry,  poetry,  the  arts,  philosophy,  literature, 
all  flourished  at  the  court  and  city  of  Cordova.  Agriculture 
was  cultivated  with  a  perfection,  both  theoretical  and  prac- 
tical, which  is  apparent  from  the  works  of  contemporary 
Arab  writers.  The  Silo,  so  lately  introduced  into  England 
as  a  valuable  agricultural  novelty,  is  not  only  the  invention 
of  the  Arabs,  but  the  very  name  is  Arabic,  as  is  that  of  the 
Azequia  and  of  the  Noria  of  modern  Spain.  Both  the  sec- 
ond and  the  third  Abdur  Rahman  were  passionately  fond 
of  gardening  and  tree-planting;  and  seeds,  roots  and  cut- 
tings were  brought  from  all  parts  of  the  world  and  accli- 
matized in  the  gardens  at  Cordova.  A  pomegranate  of 
peculiar  excellence,  the  Safari,  which  was  introduced  by 
the  second  Abdur  Rahman  from  Damascus,  still  maintains 
its  superiority,  and  is  known  in  Spain  to  the  present  day 
as  the  Granada  Zafari. 

Thus,  in  small  things  as  in  great,  the  Arabs  of  Cordova 
stood  immeasurably  above  every  other  people  or  any  other 
government  in  Europe.  Yet  their  influence  unhappily  was 
but  small.  They  surpassed,  but  they  did  not  lead.  The 
very  greatness  of  their  superiority  rendered  their  example 
fruitless.  Medieval  chivalry,  indeed,  was  largely  the  result 
of  their  influence  in  Spain.  But  chivalry  as  an  institution 
had  itself  decayed  long  before  a  new-born  Europe  had  at- 


20  HISTORY   OF  SPAIN. 

tained  to  the  material  and  moral  perfection  of  the  great 
Emirs  of  Cordova.  Their  political  organization  was  un- 
adapted  to  the  needs  or  the  aspirations  of  Western  Europe, 
and  contained  within  itself  the  elements,  not  of  develop- 
ment, but  of  decay.  Their  civilization  perished,  and  left 
no  heirs  behind  it — and  its  place  knows  it  no  more. 

The  reign  of  Hakam  II.,  the  son  and  successor  of  the 
great  Caliph,  was  tranquil,  prosperous  and  honorable,  the 
golden  age  of  Arab  literature  in  Spain.  The  king  was 
above  all  things  a  student,  living  the  life  almost  of  a  re- 
cluse in  his  splendid  retreat  at  Az  Zahra,  and  concerning 
himself  rather  with  the  collection  of  books  for  his  celebrated 
library  at  Cordova  than  with  the  cares  of  State  and  the 
excitements  of  war.  He  sent  agents  to  every  city  in  the 
East  to  buy  rare  manuscripts  and  bring  them  back  to  Cor- 
dova. When  he  could  not  acquire  originals  he  procured 
copies,  and  every  book  was  carefully  catalogued  and  worth- 
ily lodged.  Hakam  not  only  built  libraries,  but,  unlike 
many  modern  collectors,  he  is  said  to  have  read  and  even 
to  have  annotated  the  books  that  they  contained;  but  as 
their  number  exceeded  four  hundred  thousand,  he  must 
have  been  a  remarkably  rapid  student. 

The  peaceful  disposition  of  the  new  Caliph  emboldened 
his  Christian  neighbors  and  tributaries  to  disregard  the  old 
treaties  and  to  assert  their  independence  of  Cordova.  But 
the  armies  of  Hakam  were  able  to  make  his  rights  re- 
spected, and  the  treaties  were  reaffirmed  and  observed. 
Many  were  the  embassies  that  were  received  at  Cordova 
from  rival  Christian  chiefs;  and  Sancho  of  Leon,  Fernan 
Gonzalez  of  Castile,  Garcia  of  Navarre,  Rodrigo  Velasquez 
of  Gallicia,  and  finally  Ordono  the  Bad,  Pretender  to  the 


THE    CALIPHATE    OF   CORDOVA.  21 

crown  of  Leon,  were  all  represented  at  the  court  of  Az 
Zahra. 

The  reign  of  this  royal  scholar  was  peaceful  and  pros- 
perous; but  kingly  power  tends  to  decline  in  libraries,  and 
when  Hakam  ceased  to  build  and  to  annotate,  and  his  king- 
dom devolved  upon  his  son,  the  royal  authority  passed  not 
into  the  hands  of  the  young  Hisham,  who  was  only  nine 
years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  father's  death,  but  into  those 
of  the  Sultana  Sobeyra  and  of  her  favorite,  Ibn-abu-amir, 
who  is  known  to  later  generations  by  the  proud  title  of  Al- 
manzor.  * 

Ibn-abu-amir  began  his  career  as  a  poor  student  at  the 
University  of  Cordova.  Of  respectable  birth  and  parentage, 
filled  with  noble  ambition,  born  for  empire  and  command, 
the  youth  became  a  court  scribe,  and,  attracting  the  atten- 
tion of  the  all-powerful  Sobeyra  by  the  charm  of  his  manner 
and  his  nobility  of  bearing,  he  soon  rose  to  power  and  dis- 
tinction in  the  palace;  and  as  Master  of  the  Mint,  and  after- 
ward as  Commander  of  the  City  Guard,  he  found  means  to 
render  himself  indispensable,  as  he  had  always  been  agree- 
able, to  the  harem.  Nor  was  the  young  courtier  less  ac- 
ceptable to  the  Caliph.  Intrusted  by  him  on  a  critical  occa- 
sion with  the  supremely  difficult  mission  of  comptrolling  the 
expenditure  of  the  army  in  Africa,  where  the  general-in- 
chief  had  proved  over-prodigal  or  over-rapacious,  Ibn-abu- 
amir  acquitted  himself  with  such  extraordinary  skill  and 
tact  that  he  won  the  respect  and  admiration,  not  only  of 
the  Caliph  whose  treasury  he  protected,  but  of  the  general 


*  Al  Manzor  al  Allah:  "The  Victor  of  God;  or,  Victo- 
rious by  the  Grace  of  God." 


22  HISTORY    OF   SPAIN. 

whose  extravagance  he  checked,  and  even  of  the  common 
soldiers  of  the  army,  who  are  not  usually  drawn  to  a  civil- 
ian superintendent,  or  to  a  reforming  treasury  official  from 
headquarters.  The  expenses  were  curtailed;  but  the  cam- 
paign was  successful,  and  the  victorious  general  and  the 
yet  more  victorious  Cadi  shared  on  equal  terms  the  honor 
of  a  triumphal  entry  into  the  capital. 

On  the  death  of  Hakam,  in  September,  976,  Ibn-abu- 
amir  showed  no  less  than  his  usual  tact  and  vigor  in  sup- 
pressing a  palace  intrigue,  and  placing  the  young  Hisham 
on  the  throne  of  his  father.  The  Caliph  was  but  twelve 
years  of  age,  and  his  powerful  guardian,  supported  by  the 
harem,  beloved  by  the  people,  and  feared  by  the  vanquished 
conspirators,  took  upon  himself  the  entire  administration  of 
the  kingdom,  repealed  some  obnoxious  taxes,  reformed  the 
organization  of  the  army,  and  sought  to  confirm  and  estab- 
lish his  power  by  a  war  against  his  neighbors  in  the  north. 
The  peace  which  had  so  long  prevailed  between  Moor  and 
Christian  was  thus  rudely  broken,  and  the  Moslem  once 
more  carried  his  arms  across  the  northern  frontier.  The 
campaign  was  eminently  successful.  Ibn-abu-amir,  who 
contrived  not  only  to  vanquish  his  enemies  but  to  please 
his  friends,  became  at  once  the  master  of  the  palace  and  of 
the  army.  The  inevitable  critic  was  found  to  say  that  the 
victor  was  a  diplomatist  and  a  lawyer  rather  than  a  great 
general ;  but  he  was  certainly  a  great  leader  of  men,  and  if 
he  was  at  any  time  unskilled  in  the  conduct  of  a  battle,  he 
owned  from  the  first  that  higher  skill  of  knowing  whom  to 
trust  with  command.  Nor  was  he  less  remarkable  for  his 
true  military  virtue  of  constant  clemency  to  the  vanquished. 

In  two  years  after  the  death  of  Hakam,  Almanzor  had 


THE    CALIPHATE    OF   CORDOVA.  23 

attained  the  position  of  the  greatest  of  the  maires  du  palais 
of  early  France,  and  he  ruled  all  Mohammedan  Spain  in 
the  name  of  young  Hisham,  whose  throne  he  forbore  to 
occupy  and  whose  person  was  safe  in  his  custody.  But  if 
Almanzor  was  not  a  dilettante  like  Abdur  Rahman  II.,  nor 
a  collector  of  MSS.  like  Hakam,  he  was  no  vulgar  fighter 
like  the  early  kings  of  Leon  or  of  Navarre.  A  library  of 
books  accompanied  him  in  all  his  campaigns;  literature, 
science,  and  the  arts  were  munificently  patronized  at  court; 
a  university  or  high  school  was  established  at  Cordova, 
where  the  great  mosque  was  enlarged  for  the  accommoda- 
tion of  an  increasing  number  of  worshipers.  Yet  in  one 
thing  did  he  show  his  weakness.  He  could  afford  to  have 
no  enemies.  The  idol  of  the  army,  the  lover  of  the  queen, 
the  prefect  of  the  city,  the  guardian  of  the  person  of  the 
Caliph,  Almanzor  yet  found  it  necessary  to  conciliate  the 
theologians;  and  the  theologians  were  only  conciliated  by 
the  delivery  of  the  great  library  of  Hakam  into  the  hands 
of  the  Ulema.  The  shelves  were  ransacked  for  works  on 
astrology  and  magic,  on  natural  philosophy,  and  the  for- 
bidden sciences,  and  after  an  inquisition  as  formal  and  as 
thorough  and  probably  no  more  intelligent  than  that  which 
was  conducted  by  the  curate  and  the  barber  in  the  house 
of  Don  Quixote,  tens  of  thousands  of  priceless  volumes  were 
publicly  committed  to  the  flames. 

Nor  did  Almanzor  neglect  the  more  practical  or  more 
direct  means  of  maintaining  his  power.  The  army  was 
filled  with  bold  recruits  from  Africa,  and  renegades  from 
the  Christian  provinces  of  the  north.  The  organization 
and  equipment  of  the  regiments  was  constantly  improved ; 
and  the  troops  were  ever  loyal  to  their  civilian  benefactor. 


24  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

Ghalib,  the  Commander-in-chief,  having  sought  to  overthrow 
the  supreme  administrator  of  the  kingdom,  was  vanquished 
and  slain  in  battle  (981).  The  Caliph  was  practically  a 
prisoner  in  his  own  palace,  and  was  encouraged  by  his 
guardian  and  his  friends,  both  in  the  harem  and  in  the 
mosque,  to  devote  himself  entirely  to  a  religious  life,  and 
abandon  the  administration  of  his  kingdom  to  the  Hajib, 
who  now,  feeling  himself  entirely  secure  at  home,  turned 
his  arms  once  more  against  the  Christians  on  the  northern 
frontiers;  and  it  was  on  his  return  to  Cordova,  after  his 
victories  at  Simancas  and  Zamora  in  981,  that  he  was 
greeted  with  the  well-known  title  of  Almanzor. 

In  984  he  compelled  Bermudo  II.  of  Leon  to  become  his 
tributary.  In  985  he  turned  his  attention  to  Catalonia,  and 
after  a  brief  but  brilliant  campaign  he  made  himself  master 
of  Barcelona.  Two  years  later  (987),  Bermudo  having  dis- 
missed his  Moslem  guards  and  thrown  off  his  allegiance  to 
Cordova,  Almanzor  marched  into  the  northwest,  and  after 
sacking  Coimbra,  overran  Leon,  entirely  destroyed  the  capi- 
tal city,  and  compelled  the  Christian  king  to  take  refuge  in 
the  wild  fastnesses  of  the  Asturias. 

Meanwhile,  at  Cordova,  the  power  of  Almanzor  became 
year  by  year  more  complete.  A7ictorious  in  Africa  as  well 
as  in  Spain,  this  heaven-born  general  was  as  skillful  in  the 
council  chamber  as  he  was  in  the  field.  The  iron  hand  was 
ever  clad  in  a  silken  glove.  His  ambition  was  content  with 
the  substance  of  power,  and  with  the  gradual  assumption 
of  any  external  show  of  supreme  authority  in  the  State.  In 
991  he  abandoned  the  office  and  title  of  Hajib  to  his  son, 
Abdul  Malik.  In  992  his  seal  took  the  place  of  that  of  the 
monarch  on  all  documents  of  State.  In  993  he  assumed  the 


THE    CALIPHATE   OF  CORDOVA.  26 

royal  cognomen  of  Mowayad.  Two  years  later  he  arro- 
gated to  himself  alone  the  title  of  Said ;  and  in  996  he  ven- 
tured a  step  further,  and  assumed  the  title  of  Malik  Karim, 
or  king. 

But  in  996  Almanzor  was. at  length  confronted  by  a 
rival.  Sobeyra,  the  Navarrese  Sultana,  once  his  mistress, 
was  now  his  deadly  enemy,  and  she  had  determined  that 
the  queen,  and  not  the  minister,  should  reign  supreme  in 
the  palace.  Almanzor  was  to  be  destroyed.  Hakam,  a* 
feeble  and  effeminate  youth,  was  easily  won  over  by  the 
harem,  who  urged  him  to  show  the  strength  that  he  was 
so  far  from  possessing,  by  espousing  the  cause  of  his  mother 
against  his  guardian.  The  queen  was  assured  of  victory. 
The  treasury  was  at  the  disposal  of  the  conspirators.  A 
military  rival  was  secretly  summoned  from  Africa.  The 
minister  was  banished  from  the  royal  presence.  The  palace 
was  already  jubilant. 

But  the  palace  reckoned  without  Almanzor.  Making 
his  way  into  Hakam's  chamber,  more  charming,  more  per- 
suasive, more  resolute  than  ever,  Almanzor  prevailed  upon 
the  Caliph  not  only  to  restore  him  to  his  confidence,  but 
to  empower  him,  by  a  solemn  instrument  under  the  royal 
sign-manual,  to  assume  the  government  of  the  kingdom. 
Sobeyra,  defeated  but  unharmed  by  her  victorious  and 
generous  rival,  retired  to  a  cloister;  and  Almanzor,  con- 
temptuously leaving  to  one  of  his  lieutenants  the  task  of 
vanquishing  his  subsidized  rival  in  Africa,  set  forth  upon 
the  most  memorable  of  all  his  many  expeditions  against 
Christian  Spain  (July  3,  997). 

Making  his  way,  at  the  head  of  an  artny,  through  Lu- 
sitania  into  far  away  Gallicia,  he  took  Corunna,  and  de- 


26  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

stroyed  the  great  Christian  church  and  city  of  Santiago  de 
Compostella,  the  most  sacred  spot  in  all  Spain,  and  sent  the 
famous  bells  which  had  called  so  many  Christian  pilgrims 
to  prayer  and  praise  to  be  converted  into  lamps  to  illuminate 
the  Moslem  worshipers  in  the  mosque  at  Cordova. 

Five  years  later,  in  1002,  after  an  uncertain  battle, 
Almanzor  died  in  harness,  if  not  actually  in  the  ranks, 
bowed  down  by  mortal  disease,  unhurt  by  the  arm  of 
'the  enemy.  The  relief  of  the  Christians  at  his  death  was 
unspeakable;  and  is  well  expressed,  says  Mr.  Poole,  in  the 
simple  comment  of  the  Monkish  annalist,  "In  1002  died 
Almanzor,  and  was  buried  in  Hell." 

In  force  of  character,  in  power  of  persuasion,  in  tact, 
in  vigor,  in  that  capacity  for  command  that  is  only 
found  in  noble  natures,  Almanzor  has  no  rival  among 
the  Regents  of  Spain.  His  rise  is  a  romance;  his  power 
a  marvel;  his  justice  a  proverb.  He  was  a  brilliant 
financier;  a  successful  favorite;  a  liberal  patron;  a  stern 
disciplinarian;  a  heaven-born  courtier;  an  accomplished 
general;  and  no  one  of  the  great  commanders  of  Spain, 
not  Gonsalvo  de  Aguilar  himself,  was  more  uniformly 
successful  in  the  field  than  this  lawyer's  clerk  of  Cordova. 

Hisham,  in  confinement  at  Az  Zahra,  was  still  the 
titular  Caliph  of  the  West,  but  Almanzor  was  succeeded 
as  commander-in -chief  and  virtual  ruler  of  the  country 
by  his  favorite  son,  his  companion-in-arms,  and  the  hero 
of  an  African  campaign,  Abdul  Malik  Almudaffar,  the 
Hajib  of  991.  But  the  glory  of  Cordova  had  departed. 
Abdul  Malik  indeed  ruled  in  his  father's  place  for  six 
years.  But  on  his  death,  in  1008,  he  was  succeeded  by 
his  half-brother,  Abdur  Rahman,  who,  as  the  son  of  a 


THE   CALIPHATE    OF    CORDOVA.  27 

Christian  princess,  was  mistrusted  both  by  the  palace  and 
by  the  people;  and  the  country  became  a  prey  to  anarchy. 

Cordova  was  sacked.  The  Caliph  was  imprisoned;  re- 
bellions, poisonings,  crucifixions,  civil  war,  bigotry  and 
skepticism,  the  insolence  of  wealth,  the  insolence  of 
power,  a  Mahdi  and  a  "Wahdi,  Christian  alliance,  Berber 
domination,  Slav  mutineers,  African  interference,  puppet 
princes,  all  these  things  vexed  the  Spanish  Moslems  for 
thirty  disastrous  years;  while  a  number  of  weak  but 
independent  sovereignties  arose  on  the  ruins  of  the  great 
Caliphate  of  the  West. 

The  confused  annals  of  the  last  thirty  years  of  the 
rule  of  the  Ommeyades  are  mere  records  of  blood  and 
of  shame,  a  pitiful  story  of  departed  greatness. 

On  the  death  of  Hisham  II.,  the  Romulus  Augus- 
tulus  of  Imperial  Cordova,  Moslem  Spain  was  divided 
into  a  number  of  petty  kingdoms,  Malaga,  Algeciras, 
Cordova,  Seville,  Toledo,  Badajoz,  Saragossa,  the  Bal- 
earic Islands,  Valencia,  Murcia,  Almeria,  and  Granada. 
And  each  of  these  cities  and  kingdoms  made  unceasing 
war  one  upon  another. 

From  the  death  of  Hisham,  if  not  from  the  death  of 
Almanzor,  the  center  of  interest  in  the  history  of  Spain 
is  shifted  from  Cordova  to  Castile. 


CHAPTER    III 
MEDIEVAL    SPAIN 

THE    FOUNDERS    OF    MODERN    SPAIN  — THE    KINGDOMS    OF 

THE  ASTURIAS  AND  OF  LEON  — THE    DEFEAT  AT 

RONCESVALLES  — THE  CID  CAMPEADOR 

THE  Crescent  had  conquered,  but  the  Cross  endured. 
The  refuge  of  the  latter  was  in  the  Asturias.  There- 
eight  or  ten  years  after  the  death  of  the  last  of  the  Gothic 
kings — Pelayo,  one  of  the  early  heroes  of  Spanish  his- 
tory, was  reigning  over  refugees  from  Moslem  rule.  It 
was  these  refugees  who  laid  the  foundation  of  modern 
Spain,  and  it  is  related  that  in  their  fastness  at  Cova- 
dongo,  thirty  of  them,  with  Pelayo  at  their  head,  act- 
ually routed,  if  they  did  not  destroy,  an  entire  army  of 
four  hundred  thousand  Moslem  besiegers. 

The  story  is  of  course  mythological,  but  the  good  fort- 
une of  Pelayo  did  much  to  kindle  the  national  spirit  by 
which  ultimately  Spain  was  conquered  for  the  Spaniards, 
and  thus  the  story,  if  critically  false,  becomes  metaphor- 
ically true. 

Nor  [says  Burke]  do  the  Arabs  seem  to  have  made 
any  attempt  to  retrieve  or  avenge  the  fortunes  of  the  day. 
Well  satisfied,  no  doubt,  with  their  unopposed  dominion 
over  the  rich  plains  of  the  genial  south  country,  they  were 
willing  to  abandon  the  bleak  and  inhospitable  mountains 
(28) 


MEDIEVAL    SPAIN.  29 

to  their  wild  inhabitants  and  the  emboldened  refugees 
whom  they  sheltered.  Be  the  reason  what  it  may,  Pelayo 
seems  to  have  had  peace  all  the  days  of  his  life  after  his 
victory  at  Covadonga  in  718.  Prudently  confining  his 
attention  to  the  development  of  his  little  kingdom,  he 
reigned,  it  is  said,  for  nineteen  years  at  Cangas,  and, 
dying  in  737,  he  was  peacefully  succeeded  by  his  son 
Favila. 

Pelayo,  no  doubt,  was  but  a  robber  chieftain,  a  petty 
mountain  prince,  and  the  legends  of  his  royal  descent  are 
of  later  date,  and  of  obviously  spurious  manufacture;  but 
Pelayo  needs  no  tinsel  to  adorn  his  crown.  He  was  the 
founder  of  the  Spanish  monarchy. 

Meanwhile,  in  the  recesses  of  the  Pyrenees,  a  second 
Christian  kingdom,  that  of  Navarre,  had  been  founded  by 
Garcias  Iniguez,  which,  together  with  Catalonia  and  Ara- 
gon,  Charlemagne  a  little  later  (778)  entered  and  subdued. 
In  repassing  the  Pyrenees,  however,  the  Navarrese,  led  by 
Fortun  Garcias,  fell  upon  the  Frankish  troops  and  cut  to 
pieces  the  rear  guard,  and  even,  it  is  said,  the  main  body 
of  the  army. 

How  far  the  Spanish  Christians  were  aided,  as  it  has 
been  stated  they  were,  by  the  Moors,  it  is  impossible  to  dis- 
cover. The  fact  of  such  an  alliance,  in  itself  sufficiently 
improbable,  is  quite  unnecessary  to  explain  the  ever-famous 
defeat  at  Roncesvalles. 

Nor  can  we  speak  with  much  greater  confidence  of  the 
prowess  or  even  of  the  existence  of  the  equally  famous  Ro- 
land, in  the  ranks  of  the  invading  or  evading  army :  or  of 
that  of  the  no  less  celebrated  Bernardo  del  Carpio  in  the 
ranks  of  the  pursuers. 


30  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

Taillefer,  who  sang  the  song  of  Roland  upon  the  battle- 
field of  Hastings,  and  Terouldes,  whose  thirteenth  century 
epic  suggested  the  poems  of  Pulci,  of  Boiardo,  and  of  great- 
est Ariosto,  all  these  have  made  Roland  one  of  the  favorite 
heroes  of  the  Middle  Ages.  But  in  the  story,  as  it  is  told 
in  the  Spanish  ballads,  it  is  Bernardo  del  Carpio,  the  nephew 
of  the  chaste  but  pusillanimous  Alfonso,  who  is  the  true 
hero  of  Roncesvalles,  and  who  not  only  repulsed  the  host 
of  Charlemagne,  but  caught  up  the  invulnerable  Roland  in 
his  arms,  and  squeezed  him  to  death  before  his  army.  No 
carpet  knight  nor  courtier  was  Bernardo,  but  a  true  Can- 
tabrian  mountaineer. 

In  790  Alfonso  II.,  the  great-grandson  of  the  great  Pe- 
layo,  then  king  of  Oviedo,  repulsed  the  Mussulman  army 
with  great  slaughter,  and  abolished  the  ignominious  tribute 
of  one  hundred  virgins,  an  annual  tribute  paid  to  the  Mo- 
hammedan ruler,  fifty  virgins  being  of  noble  and  fifty  of 
base  or  ignoble  birth.  From  this  circumstance  is  derived, 
by  some  historians,  his  surname  of  the  Chaste;  attributed 
by  others  to  his  having  made  a  solemn  vow  of  virginity, 
and  observed  it,  even  in  marriage.  This  vow,  and  the  aus- 
tere temper  in  which  it  probably  originated,  had  consider- 
able influence  over  Alfonso's  life.  He  so  deeply  resented  his 
sister  Ximena's  private  marriage  with  a  subject,  the  Count 
of  Saldanha,  that  he  shut  her  up  in  a  convent;  and  putting 
out  her  husband's  eyes,  sentenced  him  to  perpetual  impris- 
onment. 

The  royal  line  of  Navarre  or  Sobrarve  was  at  this  time 
extinct,  Ximeneb  Garcias,  the  grandson  of  Fortun  Garcias, 
having  died  without  children.  The  nobles  availed  them- 
selves of  the  opportunity  to  establish  the  famous  code  en- 


MEDIEVAL    SPAIN.  31 

titled  "Los  Fueros  de  Sobrarve" — the  laws  of  Sobrarve — 
which  subsequently  became  the  ground-work  of  the  liber- 
ties of  Aragon.  Navarre  was  soon  afterward  recovered 
by  the  Moors,  and  Sobrarve  included  in  the  Spanish  March. 

Alfonso  ruled  upward  of  fifty  years.  Incessant  wars 
now  followed  between  the  followers  of  the  Cross  and  the 
Crescent,  and  a  frenzy  for  martyrdom  on  the  part  of  the 
Christians  had  to  be  repressed  by  a  Christian  archbishop 
at  the  solemn  request  of  the  Cadis. 

Garcia  of  Oviedo  died  without  children  shortly  after  his 
accession ;  when  his  brother  Ordono  II.  reunited  the  whole 
of  his  father's  dominions,  900-957.  He  transferred  the  seat 
of  government  to  Leon,  and  altered  the  title  of  King  of 
Oviedo  into  that  of  King  of  Leon. 

This  Ordono  abandoned  the  peaceful  policy  of  his  greater 
father,  and  undertook  many  expeditions  with  varying  and 
uncertain  success  against  the  Arabs.  He  plundered  Merida 
in  917,  and  routed  the  Berbers  in  Southern  Spain  in  918. 
Yet  three  years  later,  at  Val  de  Junqueras  (921),  near 
Pamplona,  the  Christians  suffered  disastrous  defeat.  The 
usual  rebellion  at  home  was  appeased  by  the  treacherous 
execution  or  murder  of  no  less  than  four  counts  of  Castile 
in  922,  and  was  followed  by  the  king's  death  in  923. 

Of  Fruela  II.  (923-925),  Alfonso  IV.  (925-930),  and 
Ramiro  II.  (930-950),  little  need  be  said,  but  that  they 
lived  and  reigned  as  kings  of  Leon. 

To  Ramiro,  however,  is  due,  at  least,  the  honor  of  an 
authentic  victory  over  the  Moslem  forces  of  the  great  Ca- 
liph, Abdur  Rahman  an  Nasir  (939),  at  Simancas,  and 
afterward  in  the  same  year  at  Alhandega. 

Ramiro,    after   the   usual    rebellion,    abdicated,    in   950, 


82  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

in  favor  of  his  son  Ordono — who  had  married  Urraca, 
daughter  of  the  principal  rebel  of  the  day,  Fernan  Gon- 
zalez, count  of  Castile — and  who  succeeded  his  father  as 
Ordono  III. 

But  decapitation  was  a  far  more  certain  way  of  suppress- 
ing rebellion  than  matrimony ;  and  Fernan  Gonzalez  lived 
to  intrigue  against  his  daughter  and  her  royal  husband  hi 
favor  of  Sancho,  a  younger  brother  of  the  king.  Ordofio, 
however,  held  his  own  against  his  brother,  and  revenged 
himself  on  his  father-in-law,  by  repudiating  his  wife;  who, 
with  her  personal  and  family  grievances,  was  promptly  ac- 
quired by  Sancho,  who  succeeded,  on  his  brother's  death, 
to  the  crown  of  which  he  had  failed  to  possess  himself  by 
force.  But  even  as  a  legitimate  sovereign,  Sancho,  sur- 
named  the  Fat,  was  not  allowed  to  reign  in  peace.  He 
was  driven  from  his  kingdom  by  that  most  versatile  rebel, 
Count  Fernan  Gonzalez,  and  sought  refuge  at  the  court  of 
his  uncle  Garcia  of  Navarre  at  Pamplona.  Thence,  in  com- 
pany with  Garcia,  and  his  mother  Theuda,  he  journeyed  to 
the  court  of  the  Caliph  at  Cordova,  where  the  distinguished 
visitors  were  received  with  great  show  of  welcome  by  Abdur 
Rahman  at  Az  Zahra;  and  where  Hasdai,  the  Jew,  the 
most  celebrated  physician  of  the  day,  succeeded  in  com- 
pletely curing  Sancho  of  the  distressing  malady — a  morbid 
and  painful  corpulency — which  incapacitated  him  from  the 
active  discharge  of  his  royal  duties. 

The  study  and  practice  of  medicine  were  alike  disre- 
garded by  the  rude  dwellers  in  Leon;  but  the  Cordovan 
doctor,  surpassing  in  his  success,  if  not  in  his  skill,  the 
most  celebrated  physicians  of  the  present  day,  contrived  to 
reduce  the  king's  overgrown  bulk  to  normal  proportions, 


MEDIEVAL    SPAIN.  33 

and  restored  him  to  his  former  activity  and  vigor,  both  of 
body  and  mind.  Nor  was  the  skill  of  Hasdai  confined  to 
the  practice  of  medicine.  An  accomplished  diplomatist, 
he  negotiated  a  treaty  with  his  Christian  patient,  by  which 
Sancho  bound  himself  to  give  up  ten  frontier  fortresses  to 
the  Caliph,  on  his  restoration  to  the  crown  of  Leon,  while 
Don  Garcia  and  Dona  Theuda  undertook  to  invade  Castile 
in  order  to  divert  the  attention  of  the  common  foe,  the  ever 
ready  Fernan  Gonzalez. 

In  due  time  Sancho,  no  longer  the  fat,  but  the  hale, 
returned  to  Leon  at  the  head  of  a  Moslem  army,  placed  at 
his  disposal  by  his  noble  host  at  Cordova,  drove  out  the 
usurper,  Ordono  the  Bad,  and  reigned  in  peace  in  his  Chris- 
tian dominions.  The  visit  of  this  dispossessed  Ordono  to 
the  court  of  the  Caliph  Hakam  at  Cordova,  in  962,  is  an 
interesting  specimen  of  the  international  politics  or  policy 
of  his  age  and  country. 

As  Sancho  had  recovered  his  throne  by  the  aid  of 
Abdur  Rahman,  so  Ordono  sought  to  dethrone  him  and 
make  good  his  own  pretensions  by  the  aid  of  Hakam. 
The  Caliph,  already  harassed  by  Fernan  Gonzalez,  and 
doubting  the  honesty  of  King  Sancho,  was  not  ill-pleased 
to  have  another  pretender  in  hand,  and  Ordono  was  in- 
vited to  Cordova,  and  received  by  Hakam  in  the  palace 
at  Az  Zahra  with  the  utmost  pomp  and  display.  The 
Leonese  prince  craved  in  humble  language  the  assistance 
of  the  Moslem,  and  professed  himself  his  devoted  friend, 
ally,  and  vassal;  and  he  was  permitted  to  remain  at  the 
Court  of  Hakam,  to  await  the  issue  of  events  in  the 
North.  Some  few  days  rterward  a  treaty  was  solemnly 
signed  between  the  Caliph  and  the  Pretender,  and  once 


34  HISTORY   OF  SPAIN. 

more  the  glories  of  Az  Zahra  were  displayed  to  the  eyes 
of  the  astonished  barbarian  from  Leon. 

Nor  did  the  fame  of  these  splendid  ceremonies  fail  to 
reach  Sancho  in  the  northwest;  and  his  spirit  of  inde- 
pendence was  considerably  cooled  by  the  prospect  of  a 
Moslem  army,  headed  by  his  cousin  Ordono,  making  its 
appearance  before  his  ill-defended  frontiers.  The  ma- 
neuver was  sufficiently  familiar;  and  the  reigning  mon- 
arch lost  no  time  in  disassociating  himself  from  the  hos- 
tile proceedings  of  Fernan  Gonzalez;  and  sending  an 
important  embassy  to  Hakam  at  Cordova,  to  assure  him 
of  his  unwavering  loyalty,  he  hastened  to  announce  his 
readiness  to  carry  out  to  the  letter  all  the  provisions  of 
his  recent  treaty  with  the  Caliph.  Hakam  was  satisfied. 
Ordono  languished  disregarded  at  Cordova,  despised  alike 
by  Moslem  and  Christian,  but  unharmed  and  in  safety 
as  the  guest  of  the  Arab.  Sancho  reigned  in  peace  until 
967,  when  he  was  poisoned  by  the  rebel  count  of  the  day, 
Sanchez  of  Gallicia.  His  son,  who  was  known  as  Ramiro 
III.,  an  unwise  and  incapable  monarch,  reigned  at  Leon 
from  967  to  982,  without  extending  the  possessions  or  the 
influence  of  the  Christians  in  Spain;  and  Bermudo  II., 
who  usurped  the  throne,  was  no  match  for  the  fiery  Al- 
manzor,  who  ravaged  his  kingdom,  took  possession  of  his 
capital,  and  compelled  the  Christian  Court  to  take  refuge 
in  the  wild  mountains  of  the  Asturias,  and  once  more  to 
pay  tribute  to  the  Moslem  at  Cordova. 

Bermudo  died  in  999;  and  on  the  death  of  Almanzor, 
three  years  later,  the  Christian  fortunes  under  the  young 
Alfonso  V.,  who  had  succeeded  his  father  Bermudo,  at 
the  age  of  only  five,  began  to  mend.  Cordova  was  given 


MEDIEVAL    SPAIN.  35 

up  to  anarchy.  The  Moslem  troops  retired  from  North- 
ern Spain.  Leon  became  once  more  the  abode  of  the 
king  and  his  court,  and  though  Alfonso  gave  his  sister  in 
marriage  to  Mohammed,  an  Emir  or  Vali  of  Toledo,  he 
extended  his  Christian  dominion  in  more  than  one  foray 
against  the  declining  power  of  the  Moslem. 

Alfonso  V.,  who  is  known  in  Spanish  history  as  the 
Restorer  of  Leon,  sought  to  consolidate  his  own  power, 
as  he  certainly  exalted  that  of  his  clergy,  by  the  sum- 
moning of  a  Council,  after  the  manner  of  the  Visigothic 
Councils  of  Toledo.  The  Council  met  at  the  city  of  Leon 
on  the  1st  of  August,  1020,  in  the  Cathedral  Church  of 
St.  Mary.  The  king  and  his  queen  Elvira  presided,  and 
all  the  bishops  and  the  principal  abbots  and  nobles  of 
the  kingdom  took  their  seats  in  the  assembly.  And  if 
there  was  no  Leander,  nor  Isidore,  nor  Julian  to  impose 
his  will  upon  king  or  council,  the  interests  of  the  Church 
were  not  entirely  overlooked.  Of  the  fifty-eight  decrees 
and  canons  of  this  Council,  the  first  seventeen  relate  ex- 
clusively to  matters  ecclesiastical,  the  next  twenty  are 
laws  for  the  government  of  the  kingdom,  the  remaining 
thirty-one  are  municipal  ordinances  for  the  city  of  Leon. 

But  Alfonso  V.  was  not  exempted  from  the  usual  re- 
bellions, and  marriages,  and  assassinations,  and  execu- 
tions, which  constituted  the  politics  of  the  day.  Garcia, 
the  last  Count  of  Castile,  was  treacherously  slain  in  10*26; 
and  Alfonso  was  himself  more  honorably  killed  in  an 
attack  upon  a  Moslem  town  in  Lusitania  in  1027. 

The  life  of  Fernan  Gonzalez,  the  Warwick  of  medi- 
eval Spain,  is  almost  as  much  overlaid  with  romantic 
legends  as  that  of  Roderic  or  Roland.  The  lives  and 


36  HISTORY    OF   SPAIN. 

deeds  of  his  ancestors,  and  the  origin  of  his  ever-cele- 
brated County  of  Castile,  are  involved  in  the  utmost  con- 
fusion and  obscurity;  but  Fernan  Gonzalez  himself  is  at 
least  a  historical  personage.  He  married  Sancha,  daugh- 
ter of  Sancho  Abarca  of  Navarre,  and  their  son,  Garcia 
Fernandez,  succeeded  him  as  hereditary  Count  of  Castile. 

As  early  as  the  year  905,  Sancho,  a  Christian  chief  of 
whose  ancestors  and  predecessors  much  has  been  written, 
much  surmised,  and  nothing  is  certainly  known,  was  king 
or  ruler  of  the  little  border  state  of  Navarre.  A  prudent, 
as  well  as  a  warlike  sovereign,  he  fortified  his  capital 
city  of  Pamplona,  and  when  his  son,  in  alliance  with 
Ordono  II.  of  Leon,  was  defeated  by  the  Moslems  at  Val 
de  Junquera,  the  Navarrese  not  only  made  good  their 
retreat  to  that  celebrated  fortress,  but  succeeded  in  course 
of  a  short  time  in  driving  the  Moslems  out  of  their  coun- 
try. The  grandson  of  this  successful  general  was  Sancho 
El  Mayor — or  the  Great — the  most  powerful  of  the  Chris- 
tian princes  in  Spain  (970-1035).  Besides  Navarre  and 
Sobrarve  he  held  the  lordship  of  Aragon;  in  1026,  in 
right  of  his  wife,  Muiia  Elvira,  he  became  king  or  count 
of  Castile;  while  his  successful  interference  in  the  affairs 
of  Leon  made  him  virtual  master  of  all  Christian  Spain 
outside  the  limits  of  the  quasi  Frankish  county  of  Cata- 
lonia. 

Sancho  the  Great  died  in  1035,  when  his  territories 
were  divided,  according  to  his  will,  among  his  four  sons; 
and  from  this  time  forth  the  history  of  Navarre,  so  far 
as  it  is  not  included  in  the  history  of  Aragon,  of  Castile, 
and  of  France,  is  a  confused  and  dreary  record  of  family 
quarrels,  of  plots  and  assassinations,  of  uncertain  alii- 


MEDIEVAL    SPAIN.  37 

ances,  of  broken  treaties.  The  marriage  of  the  Princess 
Berengaria  with  Richard  I.  of  England,  in  1191,  failed 
to  secure  for  Sancho  V.  the  influence  that  he  had  hoped 
to  secure:  and  with  Sancho  VI. ,  who  died  in  1234,  the 
male  line  of  the  house  of  Sancho  Iniguez  or  Inigo,  the 
founder  of  Navarre,  was  extinct.  A  French  prince  was 
chosen  by  the  Navarrese  to  rule  over  them.  And  from 
the  death  of  Sancho  VI.,  in  1234,  to  the  death  of  Charles 
the  Bad,  in  1387 — one  hundred  and  fifty  years — the  his- 
tory of  Navarre  is  that  of  France. 

Bermudo  III.,  who  succeeded,  on  the  death  of  his 
father,  Alfonso  V.,  in  1027,  as  king  of  Leon,  was  at 
once  attacked  by  his  powerful  neighbors,  and  the  little 
States  were  distracted  by  family  quarrels  and  civil  war 
until  the  death  of  Bermudo  in  battle,  in  1037,  when  the 
male  line  of  the  house  of  Leon  became  extinct. 

On  the  death  of  Bermudo  III.  in  1037,  Ferdinand  L, 
king  of  Castile,  the  second  son  of  Sancho  the  Great,  suc- 
ceeded to  the  kingdom  of  Leon,  and  became,  after  over 
twenty  years  of  civil  war  (1058),  the  most  powerful  mon- 
arch in  all  Spain.  The  Moslems  offered  but  an  uncertain 
and  half-hearted  resistance  to  his  arms.  For  while  the 
Christians  were  growing  strong,  the  Moslem  empire  was 
already  declining  to  its  fall.  And  the  decay  of  the  Cali- 
phate of  Cordova,  and  the  internal  dissensions  of  the 
Arabs,  enabled  Ferdinand  not  only  to  recover  all  the  ter- 
ritory that  had  been  conquered  by  Almanzor,  but  to  pur- 
sue the  disheartened  Moslem  as  far  as  Valencia,  Toledo, 
and  Coimbra.  Ferdinand  confirmed  the  Fueros  of  Al- 
fonso V.,  and  summoned  a  council  at  Coyanza  (Valencia 
de  Don  Juan),  over  which,  with  his  Queen  Sancha,  he 


88  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

presided  in  1050.  All  the  bishops  and  abbots,  together 
with  a  certain  number  of  lay  nobles  thus  assembled  ad 
restaurationem  nostrce  Christianitatis,  proceeded  to 
make  decrees  or  canons,  after  the  manner  of  the  Coun- 
cils of  Toledo,  of  which  the  first  seven  were  devoted  to 
matters  ecclesiastical,  and  the  remainder  connected  with 
the  civil  government  of  the  country.  With  territories 
thus  recovered  and  augmented,  with  cities  restored  and 
fortified,  Ferdinand  determined  to  excel  all  his  Christian 
predecessors,  and  to  emulate  the  noble  example  of  the 
Arab,  by  enriching  his  dominion,  not  with  treasures  of 
art  or  literature,  with  schools,  with  palaces,  with  manu- 
scripts— but  with  the  bones  of  as  many  martyrs  as'  he 
could  collect. 

An  army  was  raised  for  this  sacred  purpose,  and  the 
country  of  the  Moors  was  once  more  invaded  and  harried 
by  the  Christian  arms.  Ibn  Obeid  of  Seville,  learning 
the  objects  of  the  invasion,  offered  Ferdinand  every  fa- 
cility for  research  in  his  city;  and  a  solemn  commission 
of  bishops  and  nobles  were  admitted  within  the  walls  to 
seek  the  body  of  Justus,  one  of  the  martyrs  of  Diocle- 
tian. But  in  spite  of  all  the  diligence  of  the  Christians, 
and  all  the  good  will  of  the  Arabs,  the  sacred  remains 
could  nowhere  be  found.  At  length  the  spirit  of  Saint 
Isidore  removed  the  difficulty  by  appearing  miraculously 
before  the  Commission,  and  offering  his  own  bones  in  #ie 
place  of  those  of  Justus,  which  were  destined,  said  he, 
to  remain  untouched  at  Seville.  The  Commission  was 
satisfied.  And  the  body  of  the  great  Metropolitan,  "fra- 
grant with  balsamic  odors,"  was  immediately  removed 
to  the  Church  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  at  Leon  —  to 


MEDIEVAL    SPAIN.  39 

the  great  satisfaction  of  both  Christians  and  Moors, 
in  1063. 

It  was  on  the  occasion  of  the  return  of  these  blessed 
relics  to  the  Christian  capital  that  Ferdinand  proclaimed 
the  future  division  of  his  kingdom.  For  after  all  the 
success  that  had  attended  the  Union  of  the  dominions 
of  Leon  and  Castile  under  the  sole  authority  of  Ferdinand, 
who  rather  perhaps  for  his  sanctity  than  for  his  wisdom 
had  earned  the  title  of  the  Great,  the  king  made  the  same 
grievous  mistake  that  his  father  had  done  before  him,  in 
dividing  his  united  territories  at  his  death  (1065)  among 
his  sons  and  daughters.  To  Sancho,  the  eldest  son,  he 
left  the  kingdom  of  Castile;  to  Alfonso,  Leon  and  the 
Asturias;  to  Garcia,  Gallicia;  to  his  younger  daughter, 
Elvira,  the  town  and  district  of  Toro,  and  to  her  elder 
sister  Urraca  the  famous  border  city  of  Zamora,  the  most 
debatable  land  in  all  Spain,  and  a  strange  heritage  for 
a  young  lady.  Thus  Castile  and  Leon  were  once  more 
separated;  and  the  usual  civil  wars  and  family  intrigues 
naturally  followed.  Alfonso,  though  not  at  first  the  most 
successful,  survived  all  his  rivals,  and  was  at  length 
proclaimed  king  of  Leon  and  Castile. 

But  the  successes  and  glories  of  Alfonso  VI.,  such  as 
they  were,  are  overshadowed  by  the  prowess  of  a  Cas- 
tilian  hero,  whose  exploits  form  one  of  the  most  favorite 
chapters  in  the  national  history  of  Spain — the  Christian 
knight  with  the  Moslem  title — Ruy  Diaz,  THE  CID. 

Two  years  before  "William  of  Normandy  landed  at  Hast- 
ings, a  Castilian  knight,  a  youth  who  had  already  won  for 
himself  the  proud  title  of  The  Challenger,  from  his  reckless 
bravery  and  his  success  in  single  combat,  is  found  leading 


40  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

the  royal  armies  of  Sancho  of  Castile  against  the  eneni}- 
The  knight  was  Ruy  Diaz  de  Bivar.     The  enemy  was  Al- 
fonso "VI.  of  Leon,  the  brother  of  Sancho,  who  was  endeav- 
oring to  reunite  the  inheritance  divided  by  his  father,  in  the 
good  'old  medieval  fashion  in  Spain. 

Of  noble  birth  and  parentage,  a  Castilian  of  the  Castil- 
ians,  Roderic  or  Ruy  Diaz  was  born  at  Bivar,  near  Burgos, 
about  the  year  1040.  His  position  in  the  army  of  Sancho 
was  that  of  Alferez,  in  title  the  Standard-bearer,  in  effect 
the  major-general  or  second  in  command,  if  not  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  king's  army. 

For  seven  years  Alfonso  of  Leon  and  Sancho  of  Castile 
had  been  at  war,  each  seeking  to  destroy  the  other;  and  at 
length  at  Golpejara,  near  Carrion,  on  the  eve  of  what  prom- 
ised to  be  a  decisive  battle,  a  solemn  engagement  was  en- 
tered into  by  the  brothers  that  whichever  of  the  two  were 
worsted  in  the  encounter  should  resign  his  kingdom  to  the 
other  without  further  bloodshed.  The  Castilians,  in  spite 
of  Sancho  and  his  famous  Champion,  were  defeated  at  Gol- 
pejara; and  Alfonso  of  Leon,  foolishly  trusting  his  brother's 
word,  took  no  heed  to  improve  his  victory,  and  his  unsus- 
pecting army  was  overwhelmed  the  next  day  by  the  Cas- 
tilian troops  under  Ruy  Diaz  de  Bivar,  the  author  of  this 
exceedingly  characteristic,  if  not  entirely  authentic,  piece  of 
treachery. 

It  is  scarcely  surprising  that  the  Cid  was  not  trusted  by 
Alfonso  of  Leon,  when  he,  in  his  turn,  succeeded  to  the 
crown  of  Castile.  But  for  the  moment  Alfonso  was  not 
only  deprived  of  his  throne  and  of  his  liberty  by  his  more 
successful  brother,  but  he  was  compelled  to  purchase  his 
life  by  a  promise  to  enter  the  monastery  of  Sahagun.  Dis- 


MEDIEVAL   SPAIN.  41 

regarding  this  vow,  and  making  good  his  escape  to  Toledo, 
the  royal  refugee  was  received  with  the  usual  hospitality  of 
the  Arab  by  El  Mamun,  the  Moslem  ruler  of  the  city,  who 
sheltered  and  entertained  him,  as  he  himself  admitted, 
"like  a  son." 

Sancho  meanwhile  had  turned  his  arms  against  his 
brother  Garcia,  whom  he  dispossessed  of  his  territories; 
against  his  sister  Elvira,  who  met  with  a  similar  fate, 
and,  lastly,  against  his  sister  Urraca,  who  withstood  him 
boldly  in  her  city  of  Zamora.  And  not  only  did  this  time- 
honored  fortress  resist  the  attack  of  Sancho  and  his  wily 
major-general,  but  the  king  was  slain  outside  the  walls  of 
the  city  by  one  of  his  sister's  knights.  Alfonso  thus  not 
only  recovered  his  own  kingdom  of  Leon,  but,  swearing 
perpetual  friendship  with  El  Mamun  of  Toledo,  he  was 
elected  king  of  Castile  by  the  Commons  assembled  at  Bur- 
gos; and  the  defeated  refugee  of  1071  found  himself,  in 
less  than  two  years,  the  greatest  prince  in  Christian  Spain ; 
Alfonso  the  Sixth  of  Leon  and  of  Castile. 

Yet  the  legend  runs  that  Alfonso  was  compelled  to  un- 
dergo the  indignity  of  a  public  examination,  and  a  triple 
oath  before  the  knights  and  nobles  assembled  at  Burgos, 
to  the  effect  that  he  had  had  no  share  in  the  murder  of 
King  Sancho ;  and  the  oath  was  administered  by  Buy  Diaz 
of  Bivar,  the  companion  in  arms  of  the  Castilian  long,  some- 
time the  faithless  enemy  of  Carrion,  but  now  the  acknowl- 
edged leader  of  the  Castilian  nobility. 

Alfonso  of  Leon  may  have  forgiven  the  treachery  in  the 
field,  but  he  never  forgot  the  insult  in  the  Council.  He 
restrained  his  indignation,  however,  and  was  even  induced 
by  reasons  of  State  to  grant  to  the  bold  Castilian  lord  the 


42  HISTORY    OF   SPAIN. 

hand  of  his  cousin  Ximena  in  marriage,  and  to  intrust  him 
with  the  command  of  an  expedition  into  Andalusia.  But 
the  royal  favor  was  of  brief  duration;  and  in  1081  we  find 
that  Roderic,  partly  owing  to  the  intrigues  of  Garcia  Or- 
donez, and  partly  to  the  enduring  enmity  of  the  king,  was 
banished  from  the  Christian  dominions. 

Of  all  the  petty  sovereignties  that  came  into  existence 
on  the  breaking  up  of  the  Ommeyad  Caliphate  of  Cordova, 
that  of  Moctadir,  the  chief  of  the  Ben-i-hud  of  Saragossa, 
was  the  most  powerful  in  Northern  or  Central  Spain ;  and 
at  the  Moslem  court  of  Saragossa,  Ruy  Diaz,  with  his  fame 
and  his  followers,  was  warmly  welcomed  (1081)  by  Moctadir 
as  a  Said  or  Cid — a  lord  or  leader  of  the  Arabs.  He  had 
been  driven  out  of  Castile  by  Alfonso.  He  found  a  home 
and  honorable  command  at  Saragossa.  So  long  as  he  could 
make  war  upon  his  neighbors,  all  countries  were  alike  to 
Roderic  of  Bivar.  Nor  was  it  long  before  his  prowess 
brought  honor  and  profit  to  Moctadir,  or,  rather,  to  his 
son  and  successor,  Motamin. 

Ramon  Berenguer  III.,  count  of  Barcelona,  was  en- 
gaged, like  other  Christian  princes  of  his  time,  in  chronic 
warfare  with  his  Moslem  neighbors;  and  Motamin,  with 
his  Castilian  Cid,  marching  against  the  Catalans,  defeated 
the  Christians  with  great  slaughter  at  Almenara,  near 
Lerida,  and  brought  Ramon  Berenguer  a  prisoner  to  Sara- 
gossa (1081),  where  the  victorious  Cid  was  loaded  with 
presents  by  the  grateful  Motamin,  and  invested  with  an 
authority  in  the  kingdom  subordinate  only  to  that  of  the 
king  himself.  Two  years  later  (1083)  an  expedition  was 
undertaken  by  the  Moslems,  under  Roderic,  against  their 
Christian  neighbors  in  Aragon.  King  Sancho  Ramirez 


MEDIEVAL   SPAIN.  43 

was  completely  defeated  by  the  Castilian  champion,  who 
returned  once  more  to  Saragossa  loaded  with  booty  and 
renown.  In  1084  the  Cid  seems  to  have  paid  a  friendly 
visit  to.  the  court  of  Alfonso  VI.  But  although  he  wa  j  ap- 
parently well  received,  he  suspected  treachery,  and,  return- 
ing to  the  court  of  the  Moslem,  once  more  took  service  un- 
der the  delighted  Motamin.  His  next  campaign,  undertaken 
hi  the  following  year,  was  not  against  any  Christian  power, 
but  against  the  hostile  Moslems  of  northern  Valencia,  and 
was  crowned  with  the  usual  success.  Motamin  died  in 
1085,  but  the  Cid  remained  in  the  service  of  his  son  and 
successor,  Mostain,  fighting  against  Christian  and  Moslem 
as  occasion  offered,  partly  for  the  King  of  Saragossa,  but 
chiefly  for  the  personal  advantage  of  Ruy  Diaz  of  Bivar. 
A  stranger  national  hero  it  is  hard  to  imagine!  Nor  were 
his  subsequent  proceedings  in  any  degree  less  strange. 

Al  Mamun,  the  host  and  protector  of  Alfonso  VI.,  had 
died  hi  1075,  leaving  his  grandson,  Cadir,  to  succeed  him 
as  sovereign  of  Toledo.  Abdulaziz,  the  viceroy  of  the  sub- 
ject city  of  Valencia,  took  advantage  of  the  weakness  of 
the  young  prince  to  declare  himself  independent,  and  plac- 
ing himself  under  the  protection  of  the  Christians,  under- 
took to  pay  a  large  subsidy  to  Alfonso  VI.  in  return  for  his 
recognition  and  support.  The  subsidy  was  punctually  paid, 
and,  in  spite  of  a  present  of  no  less  than  a  hundred  thou- 
sand pieces  of  gold  handed  over  by  Moctadir  of  Saragossa 
to  Alfonso  as  the  price  of  Valencia,  Abdulaziz  retained  his 
hold  of  the  city  until  his  death  in  1085.  On  this,  numerous 
pretenders  to  the  government  immediately  arose,  including 
Moctadir  of  Saragossa,  a  purchaser  for  value,  and  the  two 
sons  of  Abdulaziz;  while  Alfonso  took  advantage  of  the 


44  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

confusion  that  ensued  to  persuade  Cadir  to  surrender  To- 
ledo, much  coveted  by  the  Christian  king,  and  to  accept, 
or,  more  exactly,  to  retain,  for  himself  the  sovereignty  of 
Valencia,  under  the  humiliating  protection  of  Castile.  Al- 
fonso cared  nothing  that  Toledo  was  the  inheritance  of  his 
youthful  ally,  the  home  of  his  old  protector,  when  he  him- 
self was  a  hunted  refugee.  He  cared  nothing  that  the 
Valencians  were  hostile  to  Cadir,  and  that  powerful  neigh- 
bors were  prepared  to  dispute  his  possession.  He  cared 
nothing  that  Moctadir,  who  had  actually  purchased  the 
city  from  Alfonso  himself,  was  on  the  way  to  make  good 
his  claim.  A  treaty  was  forced  upon  Cadir  by  which  To- 
ledo was  surrendered  to  Alfonso  VI.  (1085),  and  the  Chris- 
tian king  was  bound  to  place  and  maintain  the  unhappy 
prince  in  possession  of  his  own  subordinate  city  of  Valencia. 
Toledo  thus  became  the  capital  of  Christian  Spain ;  and 
bhe  evicted  sovereign,  escorted  by  a  large  force  of  Castilian 
troops  under  Alvar  Fanez,  made  his  sad  and  solemn  entry 
into  Valencia,  despised  at  once  by  the  citizens  of  Toledo, 
<vhom  he  had  abandoned  to  the  Christian  sovereign,  and 
t>y  the  citizens  of  Valencia,  where  his  power  was  main- 
tained by  Christian  lances.  And  costly  indeed  was  this 
Christian  maintenance.  Six  hundred  pieces  of  gold  is  said 
to  have  been  the  daily  allowance  of  the  army  of  Castilian 
Mercenaries;  and  the  taxes  that  were  necessitated  by  their 
presence  only  added  to  the  unpopularity  of  the  government, 
many  of  Cadir's  Moslem  subjects  fled  from  the  city ;  and 
their  place  was  taken  by  his  Christian  supporters  or  pen- 
sioners, whose  rapacity  was,  if  possible,  exceeded  by  their 
cruelty.  But  the  coming  of  the  Almoravides  gave  a  new 
turn  to  the  fortunes  of  the  city.  Alvar  Fanez  and  his 


MEDIEVAL    SPAIN.  45 

knights  were  recalled  by  Alfonso,  and  after  the  defeat  of 
the  Christians  at  Zalaca,  in  October,  1086,  Cadir  found 
himself  threatened  with  immediate  expulsion  by  his  own 
citizens,  supported  by  Mondhir  of  Lerida,  the  uncle  of  Mos- 
tain  of  Saragossa.  In  this  difficulty  he  once  more  sought 
the  protection  of  Christian  lances,  and  applied  for  aid  to 
the  Cid,  who  immediately  advanced  on  Valencia. 

An  intriguer  at  all  times  and  places,  Roderic  promised 
his  support  to  Cadir  in  return  for  admission  within  the 
walls.  He  entered  into  a  formal  treaty  with  Mostain  that 
the  city  should  be  his,  if  all  the  booty  were  handed  over  to 
the  Campeador;  and  he  sent  envoys  to  Alfonso  to  assure 
him  that  in  all  these  forays  and  alliances  he  thought  only 
of  the  advantage  of  Christendom  and  the  honor  of  Castile. 
Mondhir,  overawed  by  the  appearance  of  the  allied  army 
from  Saragossa,  hastily  retired  from  before  Valencia,  where 
Mostain  and  his  Christian  Said  were  welcomed  as  deliverers 
by  Cadir. 

But  although  the  Cid  imposed  a  tribute  upon  the  un- 
happy Valencians,  he  failed  to  give  over  the  city  to  Mos- 
tain, and  assuring  Cadir  of  his  constant  support,  as  long 
as  a  monthly  allowance  of  ten  thousand  golden  dinars  was 
punctually  paid,  he  withdrew  himself  from  the  remon- 
strances of  the  disappointed  Mostain — to  whom  he  con- 
tinued to  protest  his  continued  devotion — on  the  plea  of 
a  necessary  visit  to  his  Christian  sovereign  in  Castile,  to 
explain  or  excuse  his  position,  and  to  engage  some  Cas- 
tilian  troops  for  his  army.  Mostain,  during  his  absence, 
perceiving  that  he  could  not  count  upon  so  versatile  and  so 
ambitious  a  Said  in  the  matter  of  the  handing  over  of  Va- 
lencia, entered  into  an  alliance  with  his  old  enemy,  Ramon 


4ti  HISTORY   OF  SPAIX. 

Berenguer,  of  Barcelona;  and  the  Catalans  had  actually 
laid  aiege  to  the  city  when  the  return  of  the  Cid  induced 
them  to  abandon  their  trenches  and  retire  to  Barcelona. 

If  the  Cid  was  a  hero  of  romance,  he  did  not  wield 
his  sword  without  the  most  magnificent  remuneration. 
At  this  period  of  his  career  (1089-92),  in  addition  to  the 
eighty  thousand  golden  pieces  received  from  Ramon  Ber- 
enguer, he  is  said  to  have  drawn  fifty  thousand  from  the 
son  of  Mondhir,  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  from 
Cadir  of  Valencia,  ten  thousand  from  Albarracin,  ten 
thousand  from  Alpuente,  six  thousand  from  Murviedro, 
six  thousand  from  Segorbe,  four  thousand  from  Jerica, 
and  three  thousand  from  Almenara. 

With  such  an  amount  of  personal  tribute,  the  Cid 
cannot,  says  Lafuente,  have  been  greatly  inconvenienced 
by  the  action  of  Alfonso  VI.  in  despoiling  him  of  his 
estates.  Supporting  his  army  of  seven  thousand  chosen 
followers  on  the  rich  booty  acquired  in  his  daily  forays 
upon  Eastern  Spam,  from  Saragossa  to  Alicante;  regard- 
less of  Christian  rights,  but  the  special  scourge  of  the 
Moslems;  no  longer  a  Saragossan  general,  but  a  private 
adventurer,  the  Cid  could  afford  to  quarrel  at  once  with 
Mostain  and  with  Alfonso,  and  to  defy  the  combined 
forces  of  Mondhir  and  Ramon  Berenguer. 

The  rivalry  between  the  Cid  and  the  Catalan  was  ever 
fierce  in  Eastern  Spain.  The  opposing  armies  met  at  Tebar 
del  Pinar  in  1090,  and  although  the  Cid  was  wounded  in 
the  battle,  his  army  was  completely  successful.  Mondhir 
fled  from  the  field;  and  Ramon  Berenguer  was  once  more 
a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  Roderic.  Nor  was  the  Christian 
count  released  from  a  confinement  more  harsh  than  was 


MEDIEVAL   SPAIN.  47 

generous  or  necessary  until  he  had  given  good  security  for 
the  payment  of  the  enormous  ransom  of  eighty  thousand 
marks  of  gold. 

It  is  not  easy,  nor  would  it  be  fruitful  to  follow  the  va- 
rious movements  of  the  Cid  at  this  period  of  his  career. 
His  quarrels  and  his  intrigues  with  Alfonso  of  Castile,  with 
Cadir  of  Valencia,  with  the  various  parties  at  the  court  of 
Saragossa,  with  Ramon  Berenguer  at  Barcelona,  and  even 
with  the  Genoese  and  Pisans,  are  neither  easy  nor  inter- 
esting to  follow.  But  his  principal  objective  was  the  rich 
city  of  Valencia.  Alfonso  of  Leon,  ever  jealous  of  his  great 
and  most  independent  subject,  resolved  to  thwart  him  in  his 
design ;  and  having  secured  the  co-operation  of  the  Pisans 
and  Genoese,  who  had  arrived  with  a  fleet  of  four  hundred 
vessels  to  assist  the  Cid,  the  king  took  advantage  of  the 
absence  of  his  rival  on  some  foray  to  the  north  of  Saragossa 
to  advance  upon  Valencia,  and  to  push  forward  his  opera- 
tions to  the  very  walls  of  the  city.  Ruy  Diaz  riposted  after 
his  fashion. 

Leaving  the  Valencians  to  make  good  the  defense  of 
their  own  city,  he  carried  fire  and  sword  into  Alfonso's 
peaceful  dominions  of  Najera  and  Calahorra,  destroying 
all  the  towns,  burning  all  the  crops,  slaughtering  the  Chris- 
tian inhabitants ;  and  razing  the  important  city  of  Logrono 
to  the  ground.  This  savagery  was  completely  successful, 
and  met  with  no  reproach.  The  Cid  is  one  of  those  fortu- 
nate heroes  to  whom  all  things  are  permitted.  His  excesses 
are  forgotten ;  his  independence  admired ;  his  boldness  and 
his  success  are  alone  remembered.  Alfonso,  thus  rudely 
summoned  to  the  north  of  the  Peninsula,  abruptly  raised 
the  siege  of  Valencia. 


48  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

Nor  was  the  king's  action  at  Valencia  without  a  favor- 
able influence  upon  the  fortunes  of  the  Cid.  Far  from 
wresting  the  city  from  the  grasp  of  Roderic,  Alfonso  had 
rather  precipitated  the  crisis  which  was  ultimately  to  lead 
to  his  triumphal  entry  as  the  independent  ruler  of  the  city. 
Cadir  was  murdered  by  a  hostile  faction  within  the  walls : 
and  the  Cid,  advancing  with  his  usual  prudence,  spent  some 
tune  in  possessing  himself  of  the  suburbs  and  the  approaches 
to  the  city,  before  the  siege  was  commenced  in  good  earnest, 
in  July,  1093. 

The  operations  were  carried  on  in  the  most  ferocious  fash- 
ion by  the  attacking  force.  Roderic  burned  his  prisoners 
alive  from  day  to  day  within  the  sight  of  the  walls,  or 
caused  them  to  be  torn  in  pieces  by  his  dogs  under  the  very 
eyes  of  their  fellow-townsmen. 

The  blockaded  city  was  soon  a  prey  to  the  utmost  hor- 
rors of  famine.  Negotiation  was  fruitless.  Succor  came 
not.  Neither  Christian  nor  Moslem,  neither  Alfonso  the 
Castilian,  nor  Yusuf  the  Almoravide,  nor  Mostain  of  Sara- 
gossa,  appearing  to  defend  or  to  relieve  the  city,  Valencia 
capitulated  on  the  15th  of  June,  1094. 

The  Moslem  commander,  Ibn  Jahaf,  was  burned  alive. 
The  Moslem  inhabitants  were  treated  with  scant  considera- 
tion, and  the  Cid,  as  might  have  been  supposed,  proclaimed 
himself  sovereign  of  Valencia,  independent  of  either  Chris- 
tain  Alfonso  or  Moorish  Mostain ;  and  at  Valencia  he  lived 
and  reigned  until  the  day  of  his  death,  but  five  years  after- 
ward, in  1099.  His  rule  was  often  threatened  by  the  Al- 
moravides ;  but  as  long  as  the  champion  lived  they  could 
effect  no  entry  within  the  walls  of  his  city. 

For  full  three  years  after  his  death,  moreover,  his  widow 


MEDIEVAL   SPAIN.  49 

Ximena,  and  his  cousin  Alvar  Fanez,  maintained  a  precari- 
ous sovereignty  at  Valencia.  At  length,  unsupported  by 
Alfonso  of  Leon,  and  unable  to  stand  alone  in  the  midst 
of  the  Moslems,  they  retired  to  Burgos,  carrying  with  them 
the  body  of  the  Cid  embalmed  in  precious  spices,  borne,  as 
of  old,  on  his  faithful  steed  Babieca,  to  its  last  resting  place 
in  Castile.  Valencia  was  immediately  occupied  by  the  Al- 
moravides,  and  became  once  more  a  Moslem  stronghold; 
nor  did  it  finally  pass  into  Christian  hands  until  it  was 
taken  by  James  the  First  of  Aragon  in  1238.  The  Cid 
was  buried  in  the  Monastery  of  Cardena,  near  Burgos;  and 
the  body  of  his  heroic  wife,  Dona  Xirnena,  who  died  in 
1104,  was  laid  by  his  side  in  the  tomb. 

The  legend  of  the  marriage  of  the  Cid's  daughters  with 
the  Infantes  of  Carrion,  of  their  desertion,  and  of  the  ven- 
geance of  the  Cid  upon  their  unworthy  husbands,  is  un- 
doubtedly an  invention  of  the  Castilian  minstrels. 

The  legend  of  the  death  of  the  Cid's  son  at  the  battle 
of  Consuegra  is  certainly  fallacious.  There  is  no  evidence 
that  a  son  was  ever  born  to  him  at  all.  But  he  had  un- 
doubtedly two  daughters,  one  of  whom,  Christina,  married 
Ramiro,  Infante  of  Navarre,  and  the  other,  Maria,  became 
the  countess  of  Ramon  Berenguer  III.  of  Barcelona.  The 
issue  of  Ramon  Berenguer  III.  was  a  daughter  who  died 
childless,  but  a  granddaughter  of  Ramiro  of  Navarre  mar- 
ried Sancho  III.  of  Castile,  whose  son,  Alfonso  VIII.,  was 
the  grandfather  both  of  St.  Ferdinand  and  of  St.  Louis. 
And  thus  in  a  double  stream,  through  the  royal  houses  of 
Spain  and  of  France,  the  blood  of  the  Cid  is  found  to  flow 
in  the  veins  of  his  Majesty  Alfonso  XIII.,  the  reigning 
king  of  Spain. 


50  HISTORY   Ol    SPAIN. 

To  understand  or  appreciate  the  position  that  is  occu- 
pied by  the  Cid  in  Spanish  history  is  at  the  present  day 
supremely  difficult.  A  medieval  condottiere  in  the  service 
of  the  Moslem,  when  he  was  not  fighting  to  fill  his  own 
coffers  with  perfect  impartiality  against  Moor  or  Christian : 
banished  as  a  traitor  by  his  Castilian  sovereign,  and  con- 
stantly leading  the  forces  of  the  Infidel  against  Aragon, 
against  Catalonia,  and  even  against  Castile,  he  has  become 
the  national  hero  of  Spain.  Warring  against  the  Moslem 
of  Valencia,  whom  he  pitilessly  despoiled,  with  the  aid  of 
the  Moslem  of  Saragossa,  whose  cause  he  cynically  betrayed, 
while  he  yet  owned  a  nominal  allegiance  to  Alfonso  of  Cas- 
tile, whose  territories  he  was  pitilessly  ravaging;  retaining 
conquered  Valencia  for  his  personal  arid  private  advantage, 
in  despite  of  Moslem  or  Christian  kings,  he  has  become  the 
type  of  Christian  loyalty  and  Christian  chivalry  in  Europe. 
Avaricious,  faithless,  cruel  and  bold,  a  true  soldier  of  fort- 
une, the  Cid  still  maintains  a  reputation  which  is  one  of  the 
enigmas  of  history. 

The  three  favorites  of  medieval  Spanish  romance,  says 
Senor  Lafuente,  Bernardo  del  Carpio,  Fernan  Gonzalez, 
and  the  Cid,  have  this  at  least  in  common,  that  they  were 
all  at  war  with  their  lawful  sovereigns,  and  fought  their 
battles  independently  of  the  crown.  Hence  their  popular- 
ity hi  Spain.  The  Castilians  of  the  Middle  Ages  were  so 
devoted  to  their  independence,  so  proud  of  their  Fueros, 
such  admirers  of  personal  prowess,  that  they  were  disposed 
to  welcome  with  national  admiration  those  heroes  who 
sprang  from  the  people,  who  defied  and  were  ill-treated 
by  their  kings. 

The  theory  is  both   ingenious  and  just,  yet  it  by  no 


MEDIEVAL    SPAIN.  51 

means  solves  the  difficulty.  Ruy  Diaz  of  Bivar,  who  was 
one  of  the  proudest  nobles  of  Castile,  can  scarcely  be  said 
to  have  sprung  from  the  people,  nor  do  we  clearly  perceive 
why  his  long  service  under  Moslem  kings,  even  though  he 
was  a  rebel  against  his  own  sovereign,  should  have  en- 
deared him  to  the  Christian  Spaniards,  however  independ- 
ent or  however  democratic.  Yet  we  may  learn  at  least 
from  the  character  of  the  hero,  ideal  though  it  be5  that  the 
medieval  Castilians  were  no  bigots,  and  that  they  were 
slaves  neither  to  their  kings  nor  to  their  clergy. 

The  people  of  Aragon  no  doubt  held  their  king  in  a 
more  distinctly  constitutional  subjection.  No  Castilian 
chief -justice  was  found  to  call  the  sovereign  to  order: 
no  Privilege  of  Union  legalized  a  popular  war  in  defense 
of  popular  liberties.  But  Roderic  took  the  place  of  the 
justiciary  in  legend,  if  not  in  history,  when  he  adminis- 
tered the  oath  to  Alfonso  at  Burgos;  and  he  invested  him- 
self with  the  privilege  of  warring  against  an  aggressive 
king,  when  he  routed  Alfonso's  forces,  and  burned  his 
cities,  to  requite  him  for  his  attack  upon  Valencia. 

It  is  this  rebellious  boldness  which  contributed  no  doubt 
very  largely  to  endear  the  Cid  to  his  contemporaries.  It 
is  one  of  the  most  constant  characteristics  of  his  career ;  one 
of  the  features  thao  is  portrayed  with  equal  clearness  by  the 
chroniclers  and  the  ballad  makers  of  Spain.  For  the  Cid 
is  essentially  a  popular  hero.  His  legendary  presentment 
is  a  kind  of  poetic  protest  against  arbitrary  regal  power. 
The  Cid  ballads  are  a  paean  of  triumphant  democracy.  The 
ideal  Cid  no  doubt  was  evolved  in  the  course  of  the  twelfth 
century ;  and  by  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  when  the 
rule  of  kings  and  priests  had  become  harder  and  heavier 


52  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

in  Spain,  an  enslaved  people  looked  back  with  an  envious 
national  pride  to  the  Castilian  hero  who  personified  the 
freedom  of  bygone  days. 

The  Cid  is  the  only  knight-errant  that  has  survived  the 
polished  satire  of  Cervantes.  For  his  fame  was  neither  lit- 
erary nor  aristocratic ;  but,  like  the  early  Spanish  proverbs, 
in  which  it  is  said  he  took  so  great  a  delight,  it  was  em- 
bedded deep  in  the  hearts  of  the  people.*  And  although 
the  memory  of  his  religious  indifference  may  not  have  added 
to  his  popularity  in  the  sixteenth  century  in  Spain,  it  is  a 
part  of  his  character  which  must  be  taken  into  account  in 
gauging  the  public  opinion  of  earlier  days. 

From  the  close  of  the  eighth  century  to  the  close  of  the 
fifteenth,  the  Spanish  people,  Castilians  and  Aragonese, 
were,  if  anything,  less  bigoted  than  the  rest  of  Europe. 
The  influence  of  their  neighbors  the  Moors,  and  of  their 
Arab  toleration,  could  not  be  without-  its  effect  upon  a  peo- 
ple naturally  free,  independent,  and  self-reliant,  and  the 
Cid,  who  was  certainly  troubled  with  no  religious  scruples 
in  the  course  of  his  varied  career,  and  who,  according  to 
a  popular  legend  affronted  and  threatened  the  Pope  on  his 
throne  in  St.  Peter's,  on  account  of  some  fancied  slight,! 

*  Mas  Moros  mas  ganancia,  "The  more  the  Moors, 
the  greater  the  booty,"  was  one  of  his  sayings,  and  it  has 
passed  into  a  well-known  national  proverb. 

f  Having  kicked  to  pieces  the   splendid   furniture  and 
beaten  the  Papal  chamberlain,  he  proceeded  to  threaten  to 
caparison  his  horse  with  the  rich  hangings  of  the  chapel, 
if  the  Pope  refused  him  instant  Absolution ! 
Si  no  me  absolveis,  el  Papa, 
Seriaos  mal  contado 
Que  de  vuestras  ricas  ropas 
Cubrire  yo  mi  caballo ! 
—Wolf  and  Hofmann,  "Cid  Ballads." 


MEDIEVAL    SPAIN.  53 

could  never  have  been  the  hero  of  a  nation  of  bigots.  The 
degenerate  Visigoths  from  the  time  of  Reccared  the  Catho- 
lic to  the  time  of  Roderic  the  Vanquished  could  never  have 
produced  a  Cid.  Yet,  even  in  the  dark  days  of  Erwig  and 
Egica,  there  was  found  a  Julian,  who  boldly  maintained 
the  national  independence  against  the  pretensions  of  the 
Pope  of  Rome.  For  a  thousand  years  after  the  landing 
of  St.  Paul — if,  indeed,  he  ever  landed  upon  the  coast — the 
Spanish  Church  was,  perhaps,  the  most  independent  in  Eu- 
rope. The  royal  submission  to  the  Papal  authority,  first  by 
Sancho  I.  of  Aragon,  in  1071,  and  afterward  by  Alfonso 
VI.  of  Leon,  in  1085,  in  the  matter  of  the  Romish  Ritual, 
was  distinctly  unpopular.  Peter  II.  found  no  lack  of  re- 
cruits for  the  army  that  he  led  against  the  Papal  troops 
in  Languedoc,  and  King  James  I.,  the  most  popular  of  the 
kings  of  Aragon,  cut  out  the  tongue  of  a  meddlesome  bishop 
who  had  presumed  to  interfere  in  his  private  affairs  (1246). 
It  was  not  until  the  Inquisition  was  forced  upon  United 
Spain  by  Isabella  the  Catholic,  and  the  national  lust  for 
the  plunder  of  strangers  was  aroused  by  the  destruction  of 
Granada,  that  the  Spaniard  became  a  destroyer  of  heretics. 
It  was  not  until  the  spoliation  and  the  banishment  of  Jews 
and  Moriscos,  and  the  opening  of  a  new  world  of  heathen 
treasure  on  the  discovery  of  America,  that  the  Castilian, 
who  had  always  been  independent  himself,  became  intol- 
erant of  the  independence  of  others.  Then,  indeed,  he 
added  the  cruelty  of  the  priest  to  the  cruelty  of  the  sol- 
dier, and  wrapping  himself  in  the  cloak  of  a  proud  and 
uncompromising  national  orthodoxy,  became  the  most  fero- 
cious bigot  in  two  unhappy  worlds. 

But  in  the  beginning  it  was  not  so.     And  if  the  Cid 


54:  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

could  possibly  have  been  annoyed  by  Torquemada,  his 
knights  would  have  hanged  up  the  Inquisitor  on  the 
nearest  tree.  No  priests'  man,  in  good  sooth,  was  Roderic 
of  Bivar,  nor,  save  in  that  he  was  a  brave  and  determined 
soldier,  had  the  great  Castilian  Free  Lance  anything  in 
common  with  the  more  conventional  heroes  of  United  Spain. 

If  history  affords  no  reasonable  explanation  of  his  un- 
\ivaled  renown  beyond  that  which  has  already  been  sug- 
gested, we  find  but  little  in  the  early  poetry  to  assist  us. 
The  Cid  ballads  impress  us  "more  by  their  number  than 
their  light."  They  are  neither  very  interesting  in  them- 
selves, nor  are  they  even  very  suggestive.  Only  thirty- 
seven  ballads  are  considered  by  Huber  to  be  older  than 
the  sixteenth  century.  "La  plupart  de  ces  romances,"  says 
M.  Dozy,  "accusent  leur  origine  moderne;"  and  according 
to  Mr.  Ormsby  they  do  but  little  toward  the  illustration  of 
the  Cid,  either  as  a  picturesque  hero  of  romance  or  as  a 
characteristic  feature  of  medieval  history. 

The  great  French  dramatist  scarcely  touches  the  true 
history  of  his  hero.  The  scene  of  the  play  is  laid  at  Se- 
ville, where  no  Christian  king  set  his  foot  for  a  hundred 
and  fifty  years  after  the  death  of  Roderic.  The  title  which 
he  accepted  from  his  employer,  Mostian  of  Saragossa,  is 
said  to  have  been  granted  by  Alfonso  of  Leon,  after  the 
capture  of  two  imaginary  Moorish  kings,  unknown  to  his- 
tory, in  an  impossible  battle  on  the  banks  of  the  Guadal- 
quivir, which  was  never  seen  by  the  Cid.  The  whole 
action  of  the  play  turns  upon  the  moral  and  psychological 
difficulties  arising  from  the  purely  legendary  incident  of 
the  killing  of  Chimene's  father  by  her  lover,  avenging  an 
insult  offered  to  his  own  sire,  and  of  the  somewhat  artifi- 


MEDIEVAL   SPAIN.  65 

cial  indignation  of  the  lady,  until  she  is  appeased  by  a 
slaughter  of  Moors.  Corneille's  drama  abounds  in  noble 
sentiments  expressed  in  most  admirable  verse;  but  it  does 
not  assist  us  to  understand  the  character  of  the  Cid,  nor 
the  reasons  of  his  popularity  in  his  own  or  in  any  other 
country.  But  certain  at  least  it  is  that  from  the  earliest 
times  the  story  of  his  life  and  his  career  took  a  strong  hold 
upon  the  popular  imagination  in  Spain,  and  his  virtues  and 
his  vices,  little  as  they  may  seem  to  us  to  warrant  the  popu- 
lar admiration,  were  understood  and  appreciated  in  the  age 
in  which  he  lived,  an  age  of  force  and  fraud,  of  domestic 
treason  and  foreign  treachery,  when  religion  preached  little 
but  battle  and  murder,  and  patriotism  was  but  a  pretext  for 
plunder  and  rapine.  Admired  thus,  even  in  his  lifetime, 
as  a  gallant  soldier,  an  independent  chieftain,  and  an  ever 
successful  general,  fearless,  dexterous,  and  strong,  his  free 
career  became  a  favorite  theme  with  the  jongleurs  and 
troubadours  of  the  next  generation;  and  from  the  Cid  of 
history  was  evolved  a  Cid  of  legendary  song. 

It  is  most  difficult  at  the  present  day  to  know  exactly 
where  serious  history  ends  and  where  poetry  and  legend 
begin.  Yet  the  Cid  as  represented  to  us  by  M.  Dozy,  one 
of  the  most  acute  of  modern  investigators  of  historic  truth, 
is  not  so  very  different  from  the  Cid  represented  by  Southey, 
or  even  by  earlier  and  less  critical  poets,  but  that  we  may 
form  a  reasonable  estimate,  from  what  is  common  to  both 
history  and  tradition,  of  what  manner  of  man  he  was.  The 
Cid  of  the  twelfth  century  legends,  indeed,  though  he  may 
be  more  marvelous,  is  by  no  means  more  moral  than  the 
Cid  of  history.  It  was  reserved  for  the  superior  refinement 
of  succeeding  generations,  and  more  especially  for  the  anony- 


56  HISTORY    OF  SPAIN. 

mous  author  of  the  poem  of  the  thirteenth  century  to  evolve 
a  hero  of  a  gentler  and  nobler  mold ;  a  creature  conforming 
to  a  higher  ideal  of  knightly  perfection.  From  this  time 
forward  we  have  a  glorified  Cid,  whose  adventures  are  no 
more  historically  false,  perhaps,  than  those  of  the  unscrupu- 
lous and  magnificent  Paladin  of  the  legends  and  romances 
of  the  twelfth  century,  but  whose  character  possesses  all 
the  dignity  and  all  the  glory  with  which  he  could  be  in- 
vested by  a  generous  medieval  imagination.  And  it  is  this 
refined  and  idealized  hero ;  idealized,  yet  most  real ;  refined, 
yet  eminently  human,  that  has  been  worshiped  by  nineteen 
generations  of  Spaniards  as  the  national  hero  of  Spain. 

Ruy  Diaz — as  he  lived  and  died — was  probably  no 
worse  a  man  than  any  of  his  neighbors.  Far  better  than 
many  of  them  he  was,  and  undoubtedly  bolder  and  strong- 
er, more  capable,  more  adroit,  and  more  successful. 

Seven  of  the  Christian  princes  of  Spain  at  tnis  period 
fell  in  battle  warring  against  their  own  near  relations, 
or  were  murdered  by  their  hands  in  cold  blood.  Garcia 
of  Castile  was  slain  by  the  sword  of  the  Velas.  Bermudo 
III.  of  Leon  and  Garcia  Sanchez  of  Navarre  died  fight- 
ing against  their  brother,  Ferdinand  of  Castile.  Sancho 
II.  of  Castile  was  assassinated  by  order  of  his  sister  Ur- 
raca,  besieged  by  him  in  her  city  of  Zamora.  Among  the 
Christian  kings  of  the  century  immediately  before  him, 
Garcia  of  Gallicia  was  strangled  in  prison  by  the  hands 
of  his  brothers,  Sancho  and  Alfonso;  Sancho  Garcia  of 
Navarre  was  assassinated  by  his  brother  Ramon,  at  Pe- 
nalva;  Ramon  Berenguer  II.  of  Barcelona  died  by  the 
dagger  of  his  brother  Berenguer  Ramon;  Sancho  the  Fat, 
in  967,  was  poisoned  at  a  friendly  repast  by  Gonzalo 


MEDIEVAL    SPAIN.  57 

Sanchez;  Ruy  Velasquez  of  Castile,  in  986,  murdered  his 
seven  nephews,  the  unfortunate  Infantes  de  Lara;  Sancho 
of  Castile,  in  1010,  poisoned  his  mother,  who  had  endeav- 
ored to  poison  him.  At  the  wedding  festivities  at  Leon, 
in  1026,  Garcia,  Count  of  Castile,  was  assassinated  at 
the  church  door,  and  the  murderers  were  promptly  burned 
alive  by  his  friends;  Garcia  of  Navarre,  in  1030,  as  an 
incident  in  a  family  dispute  about  a  horse,  accused  his 
mother  of  adultery.  Such  was  the  standard  of  the  elev- 
enth century  in  the  north  of  the  Peninsula. 

To  judge  the  Cid,  even  as  we  now  know  him,  accord- 
ing to  any  code  of  modern  ethics,  is  supremely  unreason- 
able. To  be  sure,  even  now,  that  we  know  him  as  he 
was,  is  supremely  presumptuous.  But  that  Buy  Diaz  was 
a  great  man,  and  a  great  leader  of  men,  a  knight  who 
would  have  shocked  modern  poets,  and  a  free  lance  who 
would  have  laughed  at  modern  heroes,  we  can  have  no 
manner  of  doubt.  That  he  satisfied  his  contemporaries 
and  himself;  that  he  slew  Moors  and  Christians  as  occa- 
sion required,  with  equal  vigor  and  absolute  impartiality; 
that  he  bearded  the  King  of  Leon  in  his  Christian  coun- 
cil, and  that  he  cozened  the  King  of  Saragossa  at  the 
head  of  his  Moslem  army;  that  he  rode  the  best  horse 
and  brandished  the  best  blade  in  Spain;  that  his  armies 
never  wanted  for  valiant  soldiers,  nor  his  coffers  for  gold 
pieces;  that  he  lived  my  Lord  the  Challenger,  the  terror 
of  every  foe,  and  that  he  died  rich  and  respected  in  the 
noble  city  that  had  fallen  to  his  knightly  spear — of  all 
this  at  least  we  are  certain ;  and,  if  the  tale  is  displeasing 
to  our  nineteenth  century  refinement,  we  must  be  content 
to  believe  that  it  satisfied  the  aspirations  of  medieval  Spain. 


CHAPTER    IV 

MOORISH    SPAIN 

THE  LAST  OF  THE  CALIPHS  — THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF 

GRANADA  — FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA  — THE 

GREAT  CAPTAIN 

MOSLEM  rule  in  Spain  may  be  conveniently  summar- 
ized as  consisting,  first,  in  the  Caliphs  of  Cordova;  sec- 
ond, in  the  dynasty  of  the  Almoravides ;  third,  in  that 
of  the  Almohades;  and,  finally,  the  kings  of  Granada. 

Concerning  the  first  it  may  be  noted  that  in  the  long 
reign  of  the  last  Abdur  Rahman  were  the  seeds  of  its 
dissolution.  Brooking  no  rival  during  his  lifetime,  at  his 
death  he  found  no  successor.  Then  upon  the  ruins  of 
the  great  Caliphate  twenty  independent  and  hostile  dynas- 
ties surged.  Meanwhile  Alfonso  was  eying  them  from 
his  citadel.  At  the  gates  of  Valencia  was  the  Cid.  For 
common  safety  the  Moslem  rivals  looked  for  a  common 
defender.  In  Africa  that  defender  was  found  in  Yusuf, 
the  Berber  chief  of  a  tribe  of  religious  soldiers  known  as 
the  Almoravides. 

Invited  to  Spain  he  crossed  over,  and,  meeting  Alfonso 
at  Zalaca,  near  Bajadoz,  on  the  23d  of  October,  1086,  he 
routed  him  with  great  and  historic  slaughter. 

Yusuf  [says  Burke]  had  come  as  a  Moslem  defender, 
but  he  remained  as   a   Moslem   master.     And   once  more 
(58) 


MOORISH    SPAIN.  59 

in  Spanish  history,  the  over-powerful  ally  turned  his  vic- 
torious arms  against  those  who  had  welcomed  him  to 
their  shores.  Yet  Yusuf  was  no  vulgar  traitor.  He  had 
sworn  to  the  envoys  of  the  Spanish  Moslems  that  he 
would  return  to  Africa,  in  the  event  of  victory,  without 
the  annexation  to  his  African  empire  of  a  field  or  a  city 
to  the  north  of  the  Straits.  And  his  vow  was  religiously 
kept.  Retiring  empty-handed  to  Mauritania,  after  the 
great  battle  at  Zalaca,  he  returned  once  more  to  Spain, 
unfettered  on  this  new  expedition  by  any  vow,  and  set 
to  work  with  his  usual  vigor  to  make  himself  master  of 
the  Peninsula.  Tarifa  fell  in  December.  The  next  year 
saw  the  capture  of  Seville,  and  of  all  of  the  principal 
cities  of  Andalusia.  An  army  sent  by  Alfonso  VI.,  under 
his  famous  captain,  Alvar  Fanez,  was  completely  de- 
feated, and  all  Southern  Spam  lay  at  the  feet  of  the 
Berber,  save  only  Valencia,  which  remained  impregnable 
so  long  as  the  Cid  lived  to  direct  the  defense.  In  1102, 
after  the  hero's  death,  Valencia  succumbed,  and  all  Spain 
to  the  south  of  the  Tagus  became  a  province  of  the  great 
African  empire  of  the  Almoravides. 

The  rule  of  these  hardy  bigots  was  entirely  unlike  that 
of  the  Ommeyad  Caliphs  of  the  West.  Moslem  Spain  had 
no  longer  even  an  independent  existence.  The  sovereign 
resided  not  at  Cordova,  but  at  Morocco.  The  poets  and 
musicians  were  banished  from  court.  The  beauties  of  Az 
Zahra  were  forgotten.  Jews  and  Christians  were  alike  per- 
secuted. The  kingdom  was  governed  with  an  iron  hand. 
But  if  the  rule  of  the  stranger  was  not  generous,  it  was  just, 
and  for  the  moment  it  possessed  the  crowning  merit  that 
it  was  efficient.  The  laws  were  once  more  respected.  The 


60  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

people  once  more  dreamed  of  wealth  and  happiness.  But 
it  was  little  more  than  a  dream. 

On  the  death  of  Yusuf  in  1107  the  scepter  passed  into 
the  hands  of  his  son  Ali,  a  more  sympathetic  but  a  far  less 
powerful  ruler..  In  1118  the  great  city  of  Saragossa,  the 
last  bulwark  of  Islam  in  the  north  of  the  Peninsula,  was 
taken  by  Alfonso  I.  of  Aragon,  who  carried  his  victorious 
arms  into  Southern  Spain,  and  fulfilled  a  rash  vow  by  eat- 
ing a  dinner  of  fresh  fish  on  the  coast  of  Granada. 

Yet  it  was  by  no  Christian  hand  that  the  empire  of  the 
Almoravides  was  to  be  overthrown. 

Mohammed  Ibn  Abdullah,  a  lamplighter  in  the  Mosque 
at  Cordova,  had  made  his  way  to  remote  Bagdad  to  study 
at  the  feet  of  Abu  Hamid  Algazali,  a  celebrated  doctor  of 
Moslem  law.  The  strange  adventures,  so  characteristic  of 
his  age  and  nation,  by  which  the  lowly  student  became  a 
religious  reformer — a  Mahdi — and  a  conqueror  in  Africa, 
and  at  length  overthrew  the  Almoravides,  both  to  the 
north  and  the  south  of  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar,  forms  a 
most  curious  chapter  in  the  history  of  Islam ;  but  in  a  brief 
sketch  of  the  fortunes  of  medieval  Spain,  it  must  suffice 
to  say  that  having  established  his  religious  and  military 
power  among  the  Berber  tribes  of  Africa,  Ibn  Abdullah, 
the  Mahdi,  landed  at  Algeciras  in  1145,  and  possessed  him- 
self in  less  than  four  years  of  Malaga,  Seville,  Granada, 
and  Cordova.  The  empire  of  the  Almoravides  was  com- 
pletely destroyed;  and,  before  the  close  of  the  year  1149, 
all  Moslem  Spain  acknowledged  the  supremacy  of  the 
Almohades. 

These  more  sturdy  fanatics  were  still  African  rather 
than  Spanish  sovereigns.  Moslem  Spain  was  adminis- 


MOORISH   SPAIN.  61 

tered  by  a  Vali  deputed  from  Morocco;  and  Cordova, 
shorn  of  much  of  its  former  splendor,  was  the  occasional 
abode  of  a  royal  visitor  from  Barbary.  For  seventy  years 
the  Almohades  retained  their  position  in  Spain.  But  their 
rule  was  not  of  glory  but  of  decay.  One  high  feat  of  arms 
indeed  shed  a  dying  luster  on  the  name  of  the  Berber  prince 
who  reigned  for  fifteen  years  (1184-99)  under  the  auspicious 
title  of  Almanzor,  and  his  great  Moslem  victory  over  Al- 
fonso II.  at  Alarcon  in  1195  revived  for  the  time  the  droop- 
ing fortunes  of  the  Almohades.  But  their  empire  was  al- 
ready doomed,  decaying,  disintegrated,  wasting  away. 
And  at  length  the  terrible  defeat  of  the  Moslem  forces 
by  the  united  armies  of  the  three  Christian  kings  at  the 
Navas  de  Tolosa  in  1212,  at  once  the  most  crushing  and 
the  most  authentic  of  all  the  Christian  victories  of  medi- 
eval Spain,  gave  a  final  and  deadly  blow  to  the  Moslem 
dominion  of  the  Peninsula.  Within  a  few  years  of  that 
celebrated  battle,  Granada  alone  was  subject  to  the  rule 
of  Islam. 

It  was  in  the  year  1228  that  a  descendant  of  the  old 
Moorish  kings  of  Saragossa  rebelled  against  the  Almohades 
and  succeeded  in  making  himself  master  not  merely  of 
Granada,  but  of  Cordova,  Seville,  Algeciras,  and  even  of 
Ceuta,  and,  obtaining  a  confirmation  of  his  rights  from 
Bagdad,  assumed  the  title  of  Amir  ul  Moslemin — Com- 
mander of  the  Moslems — and  Al  Mutawakal — the  Pro- 
tected of  God. 

But  a  rival  was  not  slow  to  appear.  Mohammed  Al 
Ahmar,  the  Fair  or  the  Ruddy,  defeated,  dethroned,  and 
slew  Al  Mutawakal,  and  reigned  in  his  stead  in  Andalusia. 
Despoiled  in  his  turn  of  most  of  his  possessions  by  St.  Ferdi- 


62  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

nand  of  Castile,  Al  Ahmar  was  fain  at  length  to  content 
himself  with  the  rich  districts  in  the  extreme  south  of  the 
Peninsula,  which  are  known  to  fame,  wherever  the  Span- 
ish or  the  English  language  is  spoken,  as  the  Kingdom  of 
Granada.  And  thus  it  came  to  pass  that  the  city  on  the 
banks  of  the  Darro,  the  home  of  the  proud  and  highly  cul- 
tivated Syrians  of  Damascus,  the  flower  of  the  early  Arab 
invaders  of  Spain,  became  also  the  abiding  place  of  the  later 
Arab  civilization,  overmastered  year  after  year,  and  de- 
stroyed, by  the  Christian  armies  ever  pressing  on  to  the 
southern  sea.  Yet,  in  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  cent- 
ury, the  flood  tide  of  reconquest  had  for  the  moment  fairly 
spent  itself.  The  Christians  were  not  strong  enough  to  con- 
quer, and  above  all  they  were  not  numerous  enough  to  oc- 
cupy, the  districts  that  were  still  peopled  by  the  Moor ;  and 
for  once  a  wise  and  highly  cultivated  Christian  shared  the 
supreme  power  in  the  Peninsula  with  a  generous  and  honor- 
able Moslem.  Alfonso  X.  sought  not  to  extend  his  fron- 
tiers, but  to  educate  his  people,  not  to  slaughter  his  neigh- 
bors, but  to  give  laws  to  his  subjects,  not  to  plunder  frontier 
cities,  but  to  make  Castile  into  a  kingdom,  with  a  history, 
a  civilization,  and  a  language  of  her  own.  If  the  reputa- 
tion of  Alfonso  is  by  no  means  commensurate  with  his  true 
greatness,  the  statesmanship  of  Mohammed  Al  Ahmar,  the 
founder  of  the  ever  famous  Kingdom  of  Granada,  is  over- 
shadowed by  his  undying  fame  as  an  architect.  Yet  is  Al 
Ahmar  worthy  of  remembrance  as  a  king  and  the  parent 
of  kings  in  Spain.  The  loyal  friend  and  ally  of  his  Chris- 
tian neighbor,  the  prudent  administrator  of  his  own  domin- 
ions, he  collected  at  his  Arab  court  a  great  part  of  the 
wealth,  the  science,  and  the  intelligence  of  Spain.  His 


MOORISH   SPAIN.  63 

empire  has  long  ago  been  broken  up;  the  Moslem  hag 
been  driven  out;  there  is  no  king  nor  kingdom  of  Gra- 
nada. But  their  memory  lives  in  the  great  palace  fortress 
whose  red  towers  still  rise  over  the  sparkling  Darro,  and 
whose  fairy  chambers  are  still  to  be  seen  in  what  is,  per- 
haps, the  most  celebrated  of  the  wonder  works  of  the 
master  builders  of  the  world. 

After  his  long  and  glorious  reign  of  forty-two  years, 
Mohammed  the  Fair  was  killed  by  a  fall  from  his  horse 
near  Granada,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Mohammed 
II. ,  in  the  last  days  of  the  year  1272.  Al  Ahmar  had  ever 
remained  at  peace  with  Alfonso  X.,  but  his  son,  taking 
advantage  of  the  king's  absence  in  quest  of  an  empire  in 
Germany,  sought  the  assistance  of  Yusuf ,  the  sovereign  or 
emperor  of  Morocco,  and  invaded  the  Christian  frontiers. 

Victory  was  for  some  time  on  the  side  of  the  Moors. 
The  Castilians  were  defeated  at  Ecija  in  1275,  and  their 
leader,  the  Viceroy  Don  Nunez  de  Lara,  was  killed  in  bat- 
tle, as  was  also  Don  Sancho,  Infante  of  Aragon  and  Arch- 
bishop of  Toledo,  after  the  rout  of  his  army  at  Martos,  near 
Jaen,  on  the  21st  of  October,  1275 ;  and  the  victorious  Yusuf 
ravaged  Christian  Spain  to  the  very  gates  of  Seville. 

In  the  next  year,  1276,  the  Castilian  armies  were  again 
twice  defeated,  in  February  at  Alcoy  and  in  the  following 
July  at  Lucena.  To  add  to  their  troubles,  King  James  of 
Aragon  died  at  Valencia  in  1276.  Sancho  of  Castile  sought 
to  depose  his  father  Alfonso,  at  Valladolid.  All  was  in 
confusion  among  the  Christians;  and  had  it  not  been  for 
the  defection  of  Yusuf  of  Morocco,  the  tide  of  fortune  might 
have  turned  in  favor  of  Islam.  As  it  was,  the  African 
monarch  not  only  abandoned  his  cousin  of  Granada,  but 


64  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

he  was  actually  persuaded  to  send  one  hundred  thousand 
ducats  to  his  Christian  rival  at  Seville  in  1280. 

The  value  of  this  assistance  was  soon  felt.  Tarifa  was 
taken  in  1292,  and  the  progress  of  the  Moor  was  checked 
forever  in  Southern  Spain.  Mohammed  II.  died  in  1302, 
and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Mohammed  III.,  who  was 
usually  considered  by  the  Moslem  historians  to  have  been 
the  ablest  monarch  of  his  house.  But  he  reigned  for  only 
seven  years,  and  he  was  unable  to  defend  Gibraltar  from 
the  assaults  of  his  Christian  rivals. 

From  this  time  the  court  of  Granada  became  a  sort  of 
city  of  refuge  for  the  disaffected  lords  and  princes  of  Castile, 
who  sometimes,  but  rarely,  prevailed  upon  their  Moslem 
hosts  to  assist  them  in  expeditions  into  Christian  Spain,  but 
who  were  always  welcomed  with  true  Arab  hospitality  at 
the  Moslem  capital.  To  record  their  various  intrigues  would 
be  a  vain  and  unpleasing  task.  The  general  course  of  his- 
tory was  hardly  affected  by  passing  alliances.  The  Chris- 
tian pressed  on — with  ever  increasing  territory  behind  him 
— on  his  road  to  the  southern  sea. 

In  1319,  Abdul  Walid  or  Ismail  I.  of  Granada  defeated 
and  slew  Don  Pedro  and  Don  Juan,  Infantes  of  Castile,  at 
a  place  near  Granada,  still  known  as  the  Sierra  de  los  In- 
fantes. But  no  important  consequences  followed  the  victory. 

In  the  reign  of  Yusuf  (1333-54)  was  fought  the  great  bat- 
tle of  the  Salado  (1340),  when  the  Christians,  under  Alfonso 
XI.,  were  completely  successful;  and  the  capitulation  of  Al- 
geciras  three  years  later  deprived  the  Moslems  of  an  impor- 
tant harbor  and  seaport.  Day  by  day — almost  hour  by  hour 
— the  Christians  encroached  upon  Granada,  even  while  cul- 
tivating the  political  friendship  and  accepting  the  private 


MOORISH  SPAIN.  65 

hospitality  of  the  Moslem.  Their  treacherous  intervention 
reached  its  climax  in  1362,  when  Peter  the  Cruel  decoyed 
the  King  Abu  Said,  under  his  royal  safe -conduct,  to  the 
palace  at  Seville,  and  slew  him  with  his  own  hand. 

With  Mohammed  or  Maulai  al  Aisar,  or  the  Left-handed, 
the  affairs  of  Granada  became  more  intimately  connected 
with  the  serious  history  of  Spain.  Al  Hayzari,  proclaimed 
king  in  1423,  and  dethroned  soon  after  by  his  cousin,  another 
Mohammed,  in  1427,  sought  and  found  refuge  at  the  court 
of  John  II.,  by  whose  instrumentality  he  was  restored  to 
his  throne  at  the  Alhambra  in  1429.  Yet  within  four  years 
a  rival  sovereign,  Yusuf,  had  secured  the  support  of  the 
fickle  Christian,  and  Muley  the  Left-handed  was  forced 
a  second  time  to  fly  from  his  capital.  Once  again,  by  the 
sudden  death  of  the  new  usurper,  he  returned  to  reign  at 
Granada,  and  once  again  for  the  third  time  he  was  sup- 
planted by  a  more  fortunate  rival,  who  reigned  as  Mo- 
hammed IX.  for  nearly  ten  years  (1445-54).  At  the  end 
of  this  period,  however,  another  pretender  was  dispatched 
from  the  Christian  court,  and  after  much  fighting  and  in- 
trigue, Mohammed  ibn  Ismail,  a  nephew  of  Maulai  or  Muley 
the  Left-handed,  drove  out  the  reigning  sovereign  and  suc- 
ceeded him  as  Mohammed  X. 

Yet  were  the  dominions  of  this  Christian  ally  unceas- 
ingly ravaged  by  his  Christian  neighbors.  Gibraltar,  Archi- 
dona,  and  much  surrounding  territory  were  taken  by  the 
forces  of  Henry  IV.  and  his  nobles;  and  a  treaty  was  at 
length  concluded  in  1464,  in  which  it  was  agreed  that  Mo- 
hammed of  Granada  should  hold  his  kingdom  under  the 
protection  of  Castile,  and  should  pay  an  annual  subsidy  or 
tribute  of  twelve  thousand  gold  ducats.  It  was  thus,  on 


66  HISTORY   OF  SPAIN. 

the  death,  in  1466,  of  this  Mohammed  Ismail  of  Granada, 
that  a  vexed  and  harassed  throne  was  inherited  by  his  son 
Muley  Abul  Hassan,  ever  famous  in  history  and  romance 
as  "The  old  king" — the  last  independent  sovereign  of 
Granada. 

Meanwhile,  Henry's  only  daughter  Joanna  being  re- 
garded as  the  fruit  of  the  queen's  adultery,  he  was  de- 
posed, but  restored  after  acknowledging  as  his  heiress  his 
sister  Isabella,  who  subsequently,  through  her  marriage 
with  Ferdinand  of  Aragon,  joined  the  two  most  powerful 
of  Spanish  kingdoms  into  one  yet  more  powerful  State. 

To  return  now  to  Muley  Abul  Hassan.  *  For  many  years 
after  his  accession  he  observed  with  his  Christian  neigh- 
bors the  treaties  that  had  been  made,  nor  did  he  take 
advantage  of  the  civil  war  which  arose  by  reason  of 
Joanna's  pretensions  to  add  to  the  difficulties  already 
existing,  and  in  the  spring  of  1476  sought  a  formal  re- 
newal of  the  old  Treaty  of  Peace. 

Ferdinand,  however,  made  his  acceptance  of  the  king's 
proposal  contingent  upon  the  grant  of  an  annual  tribute; 
and  he  sent  an  envoy  to  the  Moslem  court  to  negotiate 
the  terms  of  payment.  But  the  reply  of  Abul  Hassan 
was  decisive.  "Steel,"  said  he,  "not  gold,  was  what 
Ferdinand  should  have  from  Granada!"  Disappointed  of 
their  subsidy,  and  unprepared  for  war,  the  Christian  sov- 
ereigns were  content  to  renew  the  treaty,  with  a  mental 
reservation  that  as  soon  as  a  favorable  opportunity  should 
present  itself  they  would  drive  every  Moslem  not  only 
out  of  Granada,  but  out  of  Spain. 

*  Muley  is  an  Arabic  word  meaning  "my  lord." 


MOORISH    SPAIN.  67 

For  five  years  there  was  peace  between  Abul  Hassan 
and  the  Catholic  sovereigns.  The  commencement  of  hos- 
tilities was  the  capture  of  Zahara  by  the  Moslems  at  the 
close  of  the  year  1481;  which  was  followed  early  in  next 
year,  1482,  by  the  conquest  of  the  far  more  important 
Moorish  stronghold  of  Albania,  not  by  the  troops  of  Fer- 
dinand and  Isabella,  but  by  the  followers  of  Ponce  de 
Leon,  the  celebrated  Marquis  of  Cadiz.  Albania  was  not 
merely  a  fortress.  It  was  a  treasure-house  and  a  maga- 
zine; and  it  was  but  five  or  six  leagues  from  Granada. 
The  town  was  sacked  with  the  usual  horrors.  The  Mar- 
quis of  Cadiz,  having  made  good  his  position  within  the 
walls,  defied  all  the  attacks  of  Abul  Hassan,  and  at  the 
same  time  sent  messengers  to  every  Christian  lord  in  An- 
dalusia to  come  to  his  assistance — to  all  save  one,  his 
hereditary  enemy,  the  Duke  of  Medina  Sidonia,  chief  of 
the  great  family  of  the  Guzmans.  Yet  it  was  this  gen- 
erous rival,  who,  assembling  all  his  chivalry  and  retain- 
ers, was  the  first  to  appear  before  the  walls  of  Albania, 
and  relieve  the  Christians  from  the  threatened  assault  of 
the  Moslem.  The  days  of  civil  discord  had  passed  away 
in  Castile;  and  against  united  Christendom,  Islam  could 
not  long  exist  in  Spain. 

Meanwhile,  Ferdinand,  seeing  that  war  had  finally 
broken  out,  started  from  Medina  del  Campo,  and  marched 
with  all  speed  to  Cordova,  where  he  was  joined  by  Isa- 
bella early  in  April,  1482.  The  Inquisition  had  now  been 
for  over  a  year  in  full  blast  at  Seville.  The  fires  of  per- 
secution had  been  fairly  lighted.  The  reign  of  bigotry 
had  begun,  and  the  king  and  queen  were  encouraged  to 
proceed  from  the  plunder  of  the  Jews  or  New  Christians 


68  HISTORY    OF   SPAIN. 

to  the  plunder  of  the  Moslems.  Ferdinand  accordingly 
repaired  in  person  to  Alhama,  with  a  large  train  of  prel- 
ates and  ecclesiastics  of  lower  degree.  The  city  was  sol- 
emnly purified.  Three  mosques  were  consecrated  by  the 
Cardinal  of  Spain  for  Christian  worship.  Bells,  crosses, 
plate,  altar  cloths  were  furnished  without  stint;  and  Al- 
hama having  been  thus  restored  to  civilization,  Ferdinand 
descended  upon  the  fruitful  valley  or  Vega  of  Granada, 
destroyed  the  crops,  cut  down  the  fruit  trees,  uprooted 
the  vines,  and,  without  having  encountered  a  single 
armed  enemy  in  the  course  of  his  crusade,  returned  in 
triumph  to  Cordova.  A  more  arduous  enterprise  in  the 
following  July  was  not  attended  with  the  same  success, 
when  Ferdinand  attacked  the  important  town  of  Loja, 
and  was  repulsed  with  great  loss  of  Christian  life.  An 
expedition  against  Malaga,  later  in  the  year,  undertaken 
by  Alfonso  de  Cardenas,  Grand  Master  of  Santiago,  and 
the  Marquis  of  Cadiz,  was  even  more  disastrous,  for  a 
small  body  of  Moors  in  the  mountain  denies  of  the  Axar- 
quia  fell  upon  the  Christian  marauders,  and  no  less  than 
four  hundred  " persons  of  quality"  are  said  to  have  per- 
ished in  the  retreat,  including  thirty  commanders  of  the 
great  military  order  of  Santiago.  The  Grand  Master, 
the  Marquis  of  Cadiz,  and  Don  Alfonso  de  Aguilar  es- 
caped as  by  a  miracle,  and  the  survivors  straggled  into 
Loja  and  Antequera  and  Malaga,  leaving  Abul  Hassan 
and  his  brother  Al  Zagal,  or  the  Valiant,  with  all  the 
honors  of  war. 

But  the  successes  of  the  Moor  in  the  field  was  more 
than  counterbalanced  by  treason  in  the  palace.  By  Zo- 
raya,  a  lady  of  Christian  ancestry,  Muley  Abul  Hassan 


MOORISH   SPAIN.  69 

had  a  son,  Abu  Abdallah,  who  has  earned  a  sad  notoriety 
under  the  more  familiar  name  of  Boabdil.  Jealous  of  some 
rival,  or  ambitious  of  greater  power,  the  Sultana  and  her 
son  intrigued  against  their  sovereign,  and  having  escaped 
from  the  State  prison,  in  which  they  were  at  first  pru- 
dently confined,  raised  the  standard  of  revolt,  and  com- 
pelled Abul  Hassan,  who  was  thenceforth  more  usually 
spoken  of  as  the  Old  King,  to  seek  refuge  on  the  sea- 
coast  at  Malaga. 

Boabdil,  jealous  of  the  success  of  his  father  and  his 
uncle  at  Loja  and  in  the  Axarquia,  and  anxious  to  con- 
firm his  power  by  some  striking  victory  over  the  Chris- 
tians, took  the  field  and  confronted  the  forces  of  the  Count 
of  Cabra,  near  Lucena.  The  battle  was  hotly  contested, 
but  victory  remained  with  the  Christians.  Ali  Atar,  the 
bravest  of  the  Moorish  generals,  was  slain  by  the  hand  of 
Alfonso  de  Aguilar,  and  Boabdil  himself  was  taken  prisoner 
by  a  common  soldier,  Hurtado  by  name,  and  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  victorious  Count  of  Cabra.  The  captivity  of 
Boabdil,  the  Little  King,  el  Rey  Chico,  as  he  was  called  by 
the  Castilians,  was  the  turning  point  in  the  history  of  the 
Moorish  dominion  in  Spain.  Released  on  payment  of  a 
magnificent  ransom  provided  by  his  mother  Zoraya,  and 
bound  to  his  Christian  captors  by  a  humiliating  treaty,  he 
returned  to  Granada,  disgraced  and  dishonored,  as  the  ally 
of  the  enemies  of  his  country.  Driven  out  of  the  capital  by 
the  forces  of  his  father,  who  had  returned  to  occupy  the 
great  palace-fortress  of  Alhambra,  Boabdil  and  his  mother 
retired  to  Almeria,  the  second  city  in  the  kingdom ;  and  the 
whole  country  was  distracted  by  civil  war. 

Yet  for  four  years  the  Castilians  refrained  from  any  im- 


70  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

portant  expedition  against  Granada.  Their  tactics  were 
rather  those  of  Scipio  at  Numantia.  For  Delay  was  all 
in  favor  of  Disintegration. 

Yet  the  merciless  devastation  of  fields  and  crops  was 
carried  on  with  systematic  and  dreadful  completeness. 
Thirty  thousand  destroyers  of  peaceful  homesteads,  grana- 
ries, farmhouses,  and  mills,  were  constantly  at  work,  and 
ere  long  there  was  scarce  a  vineyard  or  an  oliveyard,  scarce 
an  orchard  or  an  orange-grove  existing  within  reach  of  the 
Christian  borders.  Under  cover  of  the  treaty  with  Boabdil, 
this  devilish  enginery  of  destruction  was  steadily  pushed 
forward,  while  the  old  king  and  his  more  vigorous  brother 
El  Zagal  were  prevented  by  domestic  treason  from  making 
any  effectual  defense  of  their  fatherland.  Some  of  the  bor- 
der towns,  moreover,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Christians, 
and  many  forays  were  undertaken  which  produced  rich 
booty  for  the  marauders.  Ferdinand  in  the  meantime  oc- 
cupied himself  rather  with  the  affairs  of  the  Inquisition 
and  of  foreign  policy,  while  Isabella  was  personally  super- 
intending the  enormous  preparations  for  a  final  attack  on 
Granada.  Artillery  was  cast  in  large  quantities,  and  ar- 
tificers imported  from  France  and  Italy;  large  stores  of 
ammunition  were  procured  from  Flanders.  Nothing  was 
hurried;  nothing  was  spared;  nothing  was  forgotten  by 
Isabella.  A  camp  hospital,  the  first,  it  is  said,  in  the  his- 
tory of  warfare,  was  instituted  by  the  queen,  whose  energy 
was  indefatigable,  whose  powers  of  organization  were  bound- 
less, and  whose  determination  was  inflexible.  To  represent 
her  as  a  tender  and  timid  princess  is  to  turn  her  true  great- 
ness into  ridicule.  But  her  vigor,  her  prudence,  and  her 
perseverance  are  beyond  the  vulgar  praise  of  history. 


MOORISH   SPAIN.  71 

Meanwhile,  Granada  was  gradually  withering  away. 
The  "pomegranate,"  as  Ferdinand  had  foreseen  and  fore- 
told, was  losing  one  by  one  the  seeds  of  which  the  rich 
and  lovely  fruit  had  once  been  all  compact.  The  old  king, 
defeated  but  not  disgraced,  blind,  infirm,  and  unfortunate, 
was  succeeded  too  late  by  his  more  capable  brother,  El 
Zagal,  a  gallant  warrior,  a  skillful  commander,  and  a  reso- 
lute ruler.  But  if  "the  valiant  one"  might  hardly  have 
held  his  own  against  the  enormous  resources  of  the 
Christians  in  Europe,  he  was  powerless  against  the  com- 
bination of  foreign  vigor  and  domestic  treachery.  The 
true  conqueror  of  Granada  is  Boabdil,  the  rebel  and  the 
traitor,  who  has  been  euphemistically  surnamed  the  Un- 
lucky (El  Zogoibi).  Innocent,  perchance,  of  the  massacre 
of  the  brave  Abencerrages,  he  is  guilty  of  the  blood  of 
his  country. 

The  capture  of  Velez  Malaga  by  Ferdinand,  already  well 
supplied  with  a  powerful  train  of  artillery,  in  April,  1487 — 
while  El  Zagal  was  fighting  for  his  life  against  Boabdil  in 
Granada — was  soon  followed  by  the  reduction,  after  a  most 
heroic  defense,  of  the  far  more  important  city  of  Malaga  in 
August,  1487.  But  the  heroism  of  the  Moslem  woke  no 
generous  echo  in  the  hearts  of  either  Ferdinand  or  Isabella. 
The  entire  population  of  the  captured  city,  men,  women, 
and  children — some  fifteen  thousand  souls — were  reduced 
to  slavery,  and  distributed  not  only  over  Spain,  but  over 
Europe. 

A  hundred  choice  warriors  were  sent  as  a  gift  to  the 
Pope.  Fifty  of  the  most  beautiful  girls  were  presented  to 
the  Queen  of  Naples,  thirty  more  to  the  Queen  of  Portugal, 
others  to  the  ladies  of  her  court,  and  the  residue  of  both 


72  HISTORY    OF   SPAIN. 

sexes  were  portioned  off  among  the  nobles,  the  knights,  and 
the  common  soldiers  of  the  army,  according  to  their  rank 
and  influence. 

For  the  Jews  and  renegades  a  more  dreadful  doom  was 
reserved;  and  the  flames  in  which  they  perished  were,  in 
the  words  of  a  contemporary  ecclesiastic,  "the  illumina- 
tions most  grateful  to  the  Catholic  piety  of  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella."  The  town  was  repeopled  by  Christian  immi- 
grants, to  whom  the  lands  and  houses  of  the  Moslem  own- 
ers were  granted  with  royal  liberality  by  the  victors.  The 
fall  of  Malaga,  the  second  seaport  and  the  third  city  of  the 
kingdom  of  Granada,  was  a  grievous  loss  to  the  Moors; 
and  the  Christian  blockade  was  drawn  closer  both  by  land 
and  by  sea.  Yet  an  invasion  of  the  eastern  provinces,  un- 
dertaken by  Ferdinand  himself  in  1488,  was  repulsed  by  El 
Zagal ;  and  the  Christian  army  was  disbanded  as  usual  at 
the  close  of  the  year,  without  having  extended  the  Christian 
dominions. 

But  in  the  spring  of  1489  greater  efforts  were  made. 
The  Castilians  sat  down  before  the  town  of  Baza,  not  far 
from  Jaen,  and  after  a  siege  which  lasted  until  the  follow- 
ing December,  the  city  surrendered,  not,  as  in  the  case  of 
Malaga,  without  conditions,  but  upon  honorable  terms  of 
capitulation,  which  the  assailants,  who  had  only  been  pre- 
vented by  the  arrival  of  Isabella  from  raising  the  siege, 
were  heartily  glad  to  accept.  The  fall  of  Baza  was  of  more 
than  passing  importance,  for  it  was  followed  by  the  capitu- 
lation of  Almeria,  the  second  city  in  the  kingdom,  and  by 
the  submission  of  El  Zagal,  who  renounced  as  hopeless  the 
double  task  of  fighting  against  his  nephew  at  the  Alhambra, 
and  resisting  the  Christian  sovereigns  who  had  already  over- 


MOORISH  SPAIN.  73 

run  his  borders.  The  fallen  monarch  passed  over  to  Africa, 
where  he  died  in  indigence  and  misery,  the  last  of  the  great 
Moslem  rulers  of  Spam. 

In  the  spring  of  1490,  Ferdinand,  already  master  of  the 
greater  part  of  the  Moorish  kingdom,  sent  a  formal  sum- 
mons to  his  bondsman,  Boabdil,  to  surrender  to  him  the 
city  of  Granada ;  and  that  wretched  and  most  foolish  traitor, 
who  had  refrained  from  action  when  action  might  have 
saved  his  country,  now  defied  the  victorious  Christians, 
when  his  defiance  could  only  lead  to  further  suffering  and 
greater  disaster. 

Throughout  the  summer  of  1490,  Ferdinand,  in  per- 
son, devoted  himself  to  the  odious  task  of  the  devasta- 
tion of  the  entire  Vega  of  Granada,  and  the  depopula- 
tion of  the  town  of  Guadix.  But  in  the  spring  of  the 
next  year,  Isabella,  who  was  ever  the  life  and  soul  of 
the  war,  took  up  her  position  within  six  miles  of  the  city, 
and  pitched  her  camp  at  Ojos  de  Huescar  at  the  very 
gate  of  Granada. 

And  here  was  found  assembled,  not  only  all  the  best 
blood  of  Castile,  but  volunteers  and  mercenary  troops  from 
various  countries  in  Europe.  France,  England,  Italy,  and 
even  Germany,  each  provided  their  contingent ;  and  a  body 
of  Swiss  soldiers  of  fortune  showed  the  gallant  cavaliers  of 
the  Christian  army  the  power  and  the  value  of  a  well  dis- 
ciplined infantry.  Among  the  foreigners  who  had  come 
over  to  Spain  in  1486  was  an  English  lord,  the  Earl  of 
Rivers,  known  by  the  Spaniards  as  El  Conde  de  Escalas, 
from  his  family  name  of  Scales,  whose  magnificence  at- 
tracted the  admiration  of  all,  even  at  the  magnificent 
court  of  Isabella. 


74  HISTORY   OF   SPAL\. 

But  the  destruction  of  Granada  was  not  brought  abuut 
by  these  gilded  strangers,  nor  even  by  the  brilliant  knights 
and  nobles  of  Spain.  It  was  not  due  to  skillful  engineers 
nor  to  irresistible  commanders.  The  gates  were  opened  by 
no  victory.  The  walls  were  scaled  by  no  assault.  The 
Christian  success  was  due  to  the  patient  determination  of 
Isabella,  to  the  decay  and  disintegration  of  the  Moorish 
Commonwealth,  and,  to  some  extent,  to  the  skillful  nego- 
tiation and  diplomatic  astuteness  of  a  young  soldier  whose 
early  influence  upon  the  fortunes  of  Spain  have  been  over- 
shadowed by  the  greatness  of  his  later  achievements. 

For  among  all  the  splendid  knights  and  nobles  who  as- 
sembled in  the  camp  of  Isabella,  the  chroniclers  wellnigh 
overlooked  a  gay  cavalier  of  modest  fortune,  the  younger 
brother  of  Alfonso  de  Aguilar,  distinguished  rather  as  a 
fop  than  a  warrior — Gonsalvo  Hernandez  of  Cordova, 
whose  fame  was  destined  to  eclipse  that  of  all  his  com- 
panions in  arms,  and  who  has  earned  an  undying  repu- 
tation in  the  history  of  three  countries  as  "The  Great 
Captain." 

The  life  of  Gonsalvo  de  Cordova  is  interesting  as  being 
the  history  of  a  brave  soldier  and  an  accomplished  general, 
who  flourished  at  a  very  important  period  of  the  history  of 
Europe.  But  it  is  further  and  much  more  interesting  as 
being  the  history  of  a  man  who  united  in  himself  many 
of  the  characteristics  of  ancient  and  of  modern  times.  His 
bravery  was  the  bravery  of  an  old  Castilian  knight,  and 
although  he  had  many  splendid  rivals,  he  was  pronounced 
by  common  consent  to  be  their  superior.  Yet  his  indi- 
vidual courage  was  the  least  remarkable  of  his  qualities. 
He  was  a  general,  such  as  the  Western  world  had  not 


MOORISH  SPAIN.  75 

known  for  a  thousand  years,  and  he  was  the  first  diplo- 
matist of  modern  Europe.  In  personal  valor,  in  knightly 
courtesy,  in  brave  display,  he  was  of  his  own  time.  In 
astute  generalship,  and  in  still  more  astute  diplomacy, 
he  may  be  said  to  have  inaugurated  a  new  era;  and 
although  greater  commanders  have  existed  after  him,  as 
well  as  before  him,  he  will  always  be  known  as  "The 
Great  Captain." 

The  conquest  of  Granada  marks  an  epoch,  not  only  in 
the  history  of  Spam,  but  in  the  history  of  Europe;  and 
Gonsalvo  was  the  hero  of  Granada.  The  expedition  of 
Charles  VIII.  into  Italy  is  a  subject  of  almost  romantic 
interest,  very  nearly  preferred  by  Gibbon  to  his  own  im- 
mortal theme ;  and  Gonsalvo  in  Italy  was  the  admired  of 
all  French  and  Italian  admirers.  The  succeeding  expedi- 
tion of  Louis  XII.  was  scarcely  less  interesting,  and  the 
part  played  by  Gonsalvo  was  even  more  remarkable.  At 
his  birth  artillery  was  almost  unknown.  At  his  death  it 
had  become  the  most  formidable  arm  of  offense;  it  had 
revolutionized  the  rules  and  manner  of  warfare;  and  it 
was  employed  by  The  Great  Captain  in  both  his  Italian 
campaigns  with  marked  skill  and  success. 

Gonsalvo  Hernandez  was  born  at  Montilla,  near  Cor- 
dova, in  1453,  of  the  noble  and  ancient  family  of  the 
Aguilars.  After  a  boyhood  and  youth  devoted,  not  only 
to  every  manly  sport  and  pursuit,  and  to  the  practice  of 
arms,  but  to  the  study  of  letters,  and  more  especially 
of  the  Arabic  language,  he  made  his  first  appearance  in 
serious  warfare  on  the  field  of  Olmedo,  fighting  under 
the  banner  of  the  Marquis  of  Villena.  On  the  death  of 
Prince  Alfonso,  Gonsalvo  returned  to  Cordova.  His 


76  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

father  had  already  died;  and  according  to  the  Spanish 
law  of  primogeniture  the  whole  of  the  rich  estates  of  the 
family  of  Aguilar  passed,  on  the  death  of  Don  Pedro, 
to  his  eldest  son  Alfonso,  while  nothing  but  a  little  per- 
sonal property,  a  great  name,  a  fine  person,  and  "the 
hope  of  what  he  might  gain  by  his  good  fortune  or  his 
valor"  was  inherited  by  his  younger  brother. 

Cordova  was  obviously  too  small  a  field  for  Gonsalvo 
de  Aguilar;  and  in  the  course  of  the  eventful  year  1474, 
having  just  arrived  at  man's  estate,  he  proceeded  to  Se- 
govia, and  distinguished  himself  among  the  young  nobles 
who  crowded  to  the  Court  of  Isabella,  by  his  prowess  at 
tournaments  and  all  warlike  games  and  exercises;  and 
he  soon  became  celebrated  for  his  personal  beauty  as  well 
as  for  his  valor,  distinguished  for  his  fascinating  man- 
ners, and,  above  all,  by  an  eloquence  rarely  found  in  a 
young  soldier  of  two  and  twenty.  He  was  generally 
known  as  "the  Prince  of  the  Youth";  and  he  supported 
the  character  by  an  almost  royal  liberality  and  osten- 
tatious expenditure  entirely  incompatible  with  his  modest 
fortune. 

In  the  war  of  succession  between  Isabella  and  her 
niece,  Gonsalvo  served  under  Alfonso  de  Cardenas,  Grand 
Master  of  Santiago,  in  command  of  a  troop  of  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  horsemen;  and  he  particularly  distin- 
guished himself  at  the  battle  of  Albuera. 

And  now,  in  the  camp  before  Granada,  he  was  well 
pleased  once  more  to  sun  himself  in  the  smiles  of  his 
queen  and  patroness,  whose  presence  in  the  camp  inspired 
every  soldier  with  enthusiasm.  Isabella  appeared  on  the 
field  superbly  mounted  and  dressed  in  complete  armor, 


MOORISH   SPAIN  •  77 

and  continually  visited  the  different  quarters,  and  held 
reviews  of  the  troops.  On  one  occasion  she  expressed  a 
desire  to  have  a  nearer  view  of  the  city,  and  a  picked 
body  of  men,  among  whom  was  Gonsalvo  de  Cordova, 
commanded  by  the  Marquis  Duke  of  Cadiz,  escorted  her 
to  the  little  village  of  Zubia,  within  a  short  distance 
of  Granada.  The  citizens,  indignant  at  the  near  ap- 
proach of  so  small  a  force,  sallied  out  and  attacked 
them.  The  Christians,  however,  stood  their  ground  so 
bravely,  and  performed  such  prodigies  of  valor  under  the 
very  eyes  of  Isabella  herself,  that  no  less  than  two 
thousand  Moslems  are  said  to  have  fallen  in  that  memor- 
able affray. 

It  happened  one  night,  about  the  middle  of  July,  that 
the  drapery  of  the  tent  or  pavilion  in  which  Isabella  was 
lodged  took  fire,  and  the  conflagration  was  not  extin- 
guished until  several  of  the  neighboring  tents  had  been 
consumed.  The  queen  and  her  attendants  escaped  un- 
hurt, but  a  general  consternation  prevailed  throughout 
the  camp,  until  it  was  discovered  that  no  more  seri- 
ous loss  had  been  experienced  than  that  of  the  queen's 
wardrobe. 

Gonsalvo,  however,  who  on  more  than  one  occasion 
showed  himself  at  least  as  practical  a  courtier  as  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh,  immediately  sent  an  express  to  Illora, 
and  obtained  such  a  supply  of  fine  clothes  from  his  wife, 
Dona  Maria  Manrique,  that  the  queen  herself  was  amazed, 
as  much  at  their  magnificence  as  at  the  rapidity  with 
which  they  had  been  obtained. 

But  this  incident  led  to  even  more  important  results 
than  the  amiable  pillage  of  Dona  Maria's  wardrobe,  for 


78  HISTORY   OF  SPAIN. 

in  order  to  guard  against  a  similar  disaster,  as  well  as  to 
provide  comfortable  winter  quarters  for  the  troops,  Isa- 
bella determined  to  construct  a  sufficient  number  of 
houses  of  solid  masonry  to  provide  quarters  for  the 
besieging  army,  a  design  which  was  carried  out  in  less 
than  three  months.  This  martial  and  Christian  town, 
which  received  the  appropriate  name  of  Santa  Pe,  may 
be  still  seen  by  the  traveler  in  the  Vega  of  Granada, 
and  is  pointed  out  by  good  Catholics  as  the  only  town 
in  Andalusia  that  has  never  been  contaminated  by  the 
Moslem. 

But  in  spite  of  the  attractions  of  all  these  feats  of  arms 
and  exhibitions  of  magnificence,  and  of  all  the  personal 
display  and  rash  adventure  which  savors  so  much  more 
of  medieval  chivalry  than  of  modern  warfare,  Gonsalvo 
was  more  seriously  engaged  in  the  schemes  and  negotia- 
tions which  contributed  almost  as  much  as  the  prowess 
of  the  Christian  arms  to  the  fall  of  Granada.  He  had 
spies  everywhere.  He  knew  what  was  going  on  in  Gra- 
nada better  than  Boabdil.  He  knew  what  was  going  on 
in  the  camp  better  than  Ferdinand.  His  familiarity  with 
Arabic  enabled  him  to  maintain  secret  communications 
with  recreant  Moors,  without  the  dangerous  intervention 
of  an  interpreter.  He  kept  up  constant  communications 
with  Illora,  and  having  obtained  the  allegiance  or  friend- 
ship of  the  Moorish  chief,  Ali  A  tar,  he  gained  possession 
of  the  neighboring  fortress  of  Mondejar.  He  sent  pres- 
ents, in  truly  Oriental  style,  to  many  of  the  Moorish  lead- 
ers in  Granada  who  favored  the  party  of  Boabdil,  and  he 
was  at  length  chosen  by  Isabella  as  the  most  proper  per- 
son to  conduct  the  negotiations  that  led  to  the  treaty  of 


MOORISH   SPAIN.  79 

capitulation,  which  was  signed  on  the  25th  of  November, 
1491. 

The  nature  and  the  effect  of  this  Convention  are  well 
known.  The  triumphal  entry  of  the  Christians  into  the 
old  Moslem  capital;  "the  last  sigh  of  the  Moor,"  and  the 
setting  up  of  the  Cross  in  the  palace-citadel  of  Alhambra, 
not  only  form  one  of  the  most  glowing  pages  in  the  ro- 
mance of  history,  but  they  mark  an  epoch  hi  the  annals 
of  the  world. 


CHAPTER    V 

HE    INQUISITION 

TORQUEMADA  AND  ISABELLA  -THE  NEW  TRIBUNAL— THE 
PENALTY  OF  UNSOUND  OPINIONS  —  THREE   CENT- 
URIES  OF  SHAME 

THE  history  of  Spain  assumed  a  new  phase  when,  at  the 
fall  of  Granada,  the  attention  of  potentates  and  people  ceased 
to  be  absorbed  by  the  excitement  of  a  great  religions  war. 
Then  the  past  and  the  romance  of  it  ended  and  the  history 
of  modern  Spain  began. 

Before  proceeding  with  the  latter,  a  name  and  a  tribunal 
detain  attention.  The  one  is  Torquemada.  The  other  is  the 
Inquisition.  Burke  has  described  them  both,  as  follows: 

The  Inquisition,  established  in  Italy  by  Honorius  III.  in 
1231,  and  in  France  by  St.  Louis  in  1233,  was  formally  in- 
troduced into  Spain  by  Gregory  IX.  in  1235,  by  a  Rescript 
of  April  30th,  addressed  to  Mongriu,  Archbishop- Adminis- 
trator of  Tarragona,  confirming  and  explaining  previous 
Brief  and  Bulls  upon  the  subject  of  the  repression  of  her- 
esy ;  and  prescribing  the  issue  of  certain  Instructions  which 
had  been  prepared  at  the  desire  of  his  holiness  by  a  Span- 
ish saint,  the  Dominican  Raymond  of  Penafort.  From  this 
time  forward,  Bulls  on  the  subject  of  the  Inquisition  into 
heresy  were  frequently  issued ;  and  the  followers  of  Dominic 
were  ever  the  trusted  agents  of  the  Holy  See. 
(80) 


THE   INQUISITION.  81 

The  first  suggestion  of  the  serious  introduction  of  the 
Tribunal  of  the  Holy  Office  into  Castile,  at  the  end  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  is  said  to  have  come  from  Sicily.  An 
Italian  friar  bearing  the  suggestive  name  of  Dei  Barberi, 
Inquisitor-general  at  Messina,  paid  a  visit  to  his  sovereign 
Ferdinand  at  Seville  in  1477,  in  order  to  procure  the  con- 
firmation of  a  privilege  accorded  to  the  Sicilian  Dominicans 
by  the  Emperor  Frederic  II.,  in  1233,  by  virtue  of  which 
the  Inquisitors  entered  info  possession  of  one-third  of  the 
goods  of  the  heretic  whom  they  condemned.  This  danger- 
ous charter  was  confirmed  in  due  course  by  Ferdinand  on 
the  2d  of  September,  1477,  and  by  Isabella  on  the  18th  of 
October ;  and  very  little  argument  was  required  on  the  part 
of  the  gratified  envoy  to  convince  his  sovereign  of  the  vari- 
ous temporal  and  spiritual  advantages  that  would  follow 
the  introduction  of  the  Tribunal,  that  had  so  long  existed 
in  an  undeveloped  form  in  Sicily  and  in  Aragon,  into  the 
dominions  of  his  pious  consort,  Isabella  of  Castile. 

In  the  middle  of  the  year  1480  there  was  as  yet  no  court 
of  the  Holy  Inquisition  established  in  Spain.  At  length, 
pressed  by  the  Papal  Nuncio,  by  the  Dominicans,  by  her 
confessor,  most  of  all  by  her  husband,  Isabella  gave  her 
consent;  and  at  length,  in  August,  1483,  the  Inquisition 
was  established  as  a  permanent  tribunal.  Tomas  de  Tor- 
quemada  was  appointed  Inquisitor-general  of  both  Castile 
and  Aragon.  Subordinate  tribunals  were  constituted;  new 
and  more  stringent  regulations  were  made;  the  victims 
smoked  from  day  to  day  on  the  great  stone  altar  of  the 
Quemadero. 

The  life  of  Tomas  de  Torquemada  is  the  history  of  con- 
temporary Spam.  Born  of  a  noble  family,  already  distin- 


82  HISTORY    Of   SPAIN. 

guished  in  the  Church  by  the  reputation  of  the  cardinal  his 
uncle,  Tomas  early  assumed  the  habit  of  a  Dominican,  and 
was  in  course  of  time  appointed  prior  of  an  important  mon- 
astery at  Segovia,  and  confessor  to  the  young  Princess  Isa- 
bella. His  influence  upon  that  royal  lady  was  naturally 
great;  his  piety  pleased  her;  his  austerity  affected  her; 
and  his  powerful  will  directed,  if  it  could  not  subdue,  a 
will  as  powerful  as  his  own.  Brought  up  far  away  from 
a  court  whose  frivolities  had  no  charm  for  her,  and  where, 
under  any  circumstances,  she  would  have  been  considered 
as  a  rival  if  not  a  pretender,  the  counsels  of  her  confessor, 
both  sacred  and  secular,  were  the  most  authoritative  that 
she  could  expect  to  obtain.  It  has  been  constantly  asserted 
that  the  friar  obtained  from  the  princess  a  promise  that, 
in  the  event  of  her  elevation  to  the  throne  of  Castile,  she 
would  devote  herself  to  the  destruction  of  heretics  and  the 
increase  of  the  power  of  the  Church.  Such  a  promise  would 
have  been  but  one  of  many  which  such  a  confessor  would 
have  obtained  from  such  a  penitent,  and  would  have  been 
but  the  natural  result  of  his  teaching.  Nor  is  it  surprising 
that  in  the  intrigues  that  preceded  the  death  of  Henry  IV., 
and  the  War  of  Succession  that  immediately  followed  it, 
the  whole  influence  of  the  priesthood  should  have  been  cast 
on  the  side  of  Isabella  and  against  her  niece  Joanna.  For 
ten  years,  says  the  biographer  of  his  Order,  the  skillful 
hand  of  Torquemada  cultivated  the  intellect  of  Isabella; 
and  in  due  course  the  propitious  marriage  with  Ferdinand 
of  Aragon,  far  from  removing  his  pupil  from  his  sacerdotal 
influence,  brought  him  a  new  and  an  equally  illustrious 
penitent.  Torquemada  became  the  confessor  of  the  king 
as  well  as  of  the  queen. 


THE   INQUISITION.  83 

If  the  establishment  of  the  Inquisition  was  the  fulfill- 
ment of  Isabella's  vow,  and  the  realization  of  the  aspira- 
tions of  her  tutor,  his  appointment  as  Inquisitor-general, 
although  it  necessitated  the  choice  of  another  confessor, 
did  not  by  any  means  withdraw  him  from  his  old  sphere 
of  influence.  He  ceased  not  to  preach  the  destruction  of  the 
Moslem,  even  as  he  was  employed  about  the  destruction  of 
the  Jew;  and  if  Isabella  was  the  active  patroness  of  the 
war  in  Granada,  there  was  a  darker  spirit  behind  the  throne, 
ever  preaching  the  sacred  duty  of  the  slaughter  of  the  infidel 
and  the  heretic  of  every  race  and  nation. 

Torquemada  was  at  once  a  politician  and  an  enthusiast ; 
rigid,  austere,  uncompromising;  unbounded  in  his  ambition, 
yet  content  to  sacrifice  himself  to  the  cause  that  made  him 
what  he  was.  His  moral  superiority  to  the  Innocents  and 
Alexanders  at  Rome,  his  intellectual  superiority  to  the  Car- 
rillos  and  the  fighting  bishops  of  Spain,  gave  him  that 
enormous  influence  over  both  queen  and  king  which  his 
consuming  bigotry  and  his  relentless  tenacity  of  purpose 
induced  him  to  use  with  such  dreadful  effect.  Aggressive 
even  in  his  profession  of  humility,  Torquemada  was  inso- 
lent, not  only  to  his  unhappy  victims,  but  to  his  colleagues, 
to  his  sovereigns,  to  his  Holy  Father  at  Rome.  He  was, 
perhaps,  the  only  man  in  Europe  who  was  more  masterful 
than  Isabella,  more  bloodthirsty  than  Alexander;  and  he 
was  able  to  impose  his  own  will  on  both  queen  and  pope. 
Rejecting  in  his  proud  humility  every  offer  of  the  miter, 
he  asserted  and  maintained  his  ecclesiastical  supremacy 
even  over  the  Primate  of  Spain.  Attended  by  a  body- 
guard of  noble  youths  who  were  glad  to  secure  at  once 
the  favor  of  the  queen  and  immunity  from  ecclesiastical 


84  HISTORY    OF  SPAIN. 

censure  by  assuming  the  habit  of  the  Familiars  of  the 
Holy  Office,  the  great  destroyer  lived  in  daily  dread  of 
the  hand  of  the  assassin. 

Fifty  horsemen  and  two  hundred  foot-guards  always 
attended  him.  Nor  was  it  deemed  inconsistent  with  the 
purity  of  his  own  religious  faith  that  he  should  carry  about 
with  him  a  talisman,  in  the  shape  of  the  horn  of  some 
strange  animal,  invested  with  the  mysterious  power  of 
preventing  the  action  of  poison. 

On  the  death  of  Torquemada  in  September,  1498,  Don 
Diego  Deza  was  promoted  to  the  office  of  Inquisitor-j."rneral 
of  Spain.  Yet  the  activity  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Tribunal 
was  rather  increased  than  diminished  by  the  change  of 
masters,  and  an  attempt  was  made  soon  afterward  to  ex- 
tend its  operations  to  Naples.  But  Gonsalvo  de  Cordova, 
who  was  then  acting  as  viceroy,  took  upon  himself  to  dis- 
regard not  only  the  demands  of  the  Inquisitors,  but  the 
orders  of  Ferdinand  (June  30,  1504),  and  to  postpone  the 
introduction  of  the  new  tribunal  into  the  country  that  he 
so  wisely  and  so  liberally  governed.  After  the  recall  of 
his  great  representative,  some  six  years  later,  Ferdinand 
himself  made  another  attempt  to  establish  the  hated  Tri- 
bunal in  Italy  in  1510.  But  even  Ferdinand  did  not  pre- 
vail; and  Naples  retained  the  happy  immunity  which  it 
owed  to  the  Great  Captain. 

If  no  error  is  more  gross  than  to  suppose  that  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Inquisition  was  due  to  popular  feeling  in 
Spain,  it  is  almost  equally  false  to  assert  that  it  was  the 
work  of  the  contemporary  popes.  Rome  was  bad  enough 
at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century;  but  her  vast  load  of 
wickedness  need  not  be  increased  by  the  burden  of  sins 


THE    INQUISITION.  85 

that  are  not  her  own.  The  everlasting  shame  of  the  Span- 
ish Inquisition  is  that  of  the  Catholic  kings.  It  is  not  diffi- 
cult to  understand  why  the  poor  and  rapacious  Ferdinand 
of  Aragon  should  welcome  the  establishment  of  an  instru- 
ment of  extortion  which  placed  at  his  disposal  the  accumu- 
lated savings  of  the  richest  citizens  of  Castile.  It  is  yet 
easier  to  comprehend  that  Isabella,  who  was  not  of  a  tem- 
per to  brook  resistance  to  authority  in  Church  or  State, 
should  have  consented  to  what  her  husband  so  earnestly 
desired.  The  queen,  moreover,  was  at  least  sincerely  relig- 
ious, after  the  fashion  of  the  day;  and  was  constrained  to 
follow  the  dictates  of  her  confessor  in  matters  judged  by 
him  to  be  within  his  spiritual  jurisdiction,  even  while  she 
was,  as  a  civil  ruler,  withstanding  the  Pope  himself  on 
matters  of  temporal  sovereignty.  It  is  the  height  of  folly 
to  brand  Isabella  as  a  hypocrite,  because  we  are  unable  to 
follow  the  workings  of  a  medieval  mind,  or  to  appreciate 
the  curious  religious  temper — by  no  means  confined  to  the 
men  and  women  of  the  fifteenth  century — that  can  permit 
or  compel  the  same  person  to  be  devoted  to  Popery  and 
to  be  at  war  with  the  Pope,  and  find  in  the  punctilious 
observance  of  ceremonial  duty  excuse  or.  encouragement 
for  the  gratification  of  any  vice  and  the  commission  of 
any  crime.  But  that  the  nobility  and  people  of  Castile 
should  have  permitted  the  crown  to  impose  upon  them 
a  foreign  and  an  ecclesiastical  despotism,  is  at  first  sight 
much  harder  to  understand.  No  one  reason,  but  an 
unhappy  combination  of  causes,  may  perhaps  be  found 
to  explain  it. 

The  influence  of  the  queen  was  great.     Respected   as 
well  as  feared  by  the  nobles,  she  was  long  admired  and 


SO  HISTORY   OF   SPAIK. 

beloved  by  the  mass  of  the  people.  *  The  great  success  of 
her  administration,  which  was  apparent  even  by  the  end 
of  1480;  her  repression  of  the  nobility;  her  studied  respect 
for  the  Cortes;  all  these  things  predisposed  the  Castilians, 
who  had  so  long  suffered  under  weak  and  unworthy  sov- 
ereigns, to  trust  themselves  not  only  to  the  justice  but  to 
the  wisdom  of  the  queen.  The  influence  of  the  clergy,  if 
not  so  great  as  it  was  in  France  or  Italy,  was  no  doubt 
considerable,  and,  as  a  rule,  though  not  always,  it  was 
cast  on  the  side  of  the  Inquisition.  Last  and  most  un- 
happy reason  of  all,  the  nobility  and  the  people  were 
divided;  and,  if  not  actually  hostile,  were  at  least  ever 
at  variance  in  Castile. 

The  first  efforts  of  the  new  tribunal,  too,  were  directed 
either  against  the  converted  Jews,  of  whose  prosperity  the 
Christians  were  already  jealous,  and  for  whose  interested 
tergiversations  no  one  could  feel  any  respect;  or  against 
the  more  or  less  converted  Moslems,  toward  whom  their 
neighbors  still  maintained  a  certain  hereditary  antipathy. 
The  New  Christians  alone  were  to  be  haled  before  the  new 
tribunal.  The  Old  Christians  might  trust  in  the  queen,  if 


*  Certainly  in  1480,  possibly  not  five-and-twenty  years 
later.  From  curious  criminal  proceedings  instituted  against 
the  Corregidor  of  Medina  del  Campo,  we  learn  that  that 
high  judicial  authority  had  not  hesitated  to  declare  that 
the  soul  of  Isabella  had  gone  direct  to  hell  for  her  cruel 
oppression  of  her  subjects,  and  that  King  Ferdinand  was 
a  thief  and  a  robber,  and  that  all  the  people  round  Medina 
and  Valladolid,  where  the  queen  was  best  known,  had 
formed  the  same  judgment  of  her.  "Arch.  Gen.  Siman 
cas,"  Estado,  Legajo  i.,  f.  192;  "Calendar  of  State  Papers" 
(Spain),  Supplement  to  i.  and  ii.  (1868),  p.  27. 


THE   INQUISITION.  87 

not  in  their  own  irreproachable  lineage,  to  protect  them 
from  hurt  or  harm. 

The  number  of  subordinate  or  subsidiary  tribunals  of 
the  Holy  Office  was  at  first  only  four;  established  at  Se- 
ville, Cordova,  Jaen,  and  Ciudad  Real.  The  number  was 
gradually  increased,  during  the  reign  of  the  Catholic  kings, 
to  thirteen ;  and  over  all  these  Ferdinand  erected,  in  1483, 
a  court  of  supervision  under  the  name  of  the  Council  of  the 
Supreme,  consisting  of  the  Grand  Inquisitor  as  President, 
and  three  other  subordinate  ecclesiastics,  well  disposed  to 
the  crown,  and  ready  to  guard  the  royal  interests  in  con- 
fiscated property. 

One  of  the  first  duties  of  this  tremendous  Council  was 
the  preparation  of  a  code  of  rules  or  Instructions,  based 
upon  the  Inquisitor's  Manual  of  Eymeric,  which  had  been 
promulgated  in  Aragon  in  the  fourteenth  century.  The 
new  work  was  promptly  and  thoroughly  done ;  and  twenty- 
eight  comprehensive  sections  left  but  little  to  be  provided 
for  in  the  future. 

The  prosecution  of  unorthodox  Spanish  bishops  by  Tor- 
quemada  on  the  ground  of  the  supposed  backslidings  of 
their  respective  fathers  is  sufficiently  characteristic  of  the 
methods  of  the  Inquisition  to  be  worthy  of  a  passing  no- 
tice. Davila,  bishop  of  Segovia,  and  Aranda,  bishop  of 
Calahorra,  were  the  sons  of  Jews  who  had  been  converted 
and  baptized  by  St.  Vincent  Ferrer.  No  suspicion  existed 
as  to  the  orthodoxy  of  the  prelates,  both  of  whom  were 
men  distinguished  for  their  learning  and  their  piety.  But 
it  was  suggested  that  their  fathers  had  relapsed  into  Juda- 
ism before  they  died.  They  had  each,  indeed,  left  consider- 
able fortunes  behind  them :  and  it  was  sought  to  exhume 


88  HISTORY   OF  SPAIJ\ 

and  burn  their  mortal  remains,  and  to  declare  the  property 
— long  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  heirs  and  successors — for- 
feited to  the  crown;  and,  in  spite  of  a  brief  of  Innocent 
VIII.,  of  the  25th  of  September,  1487,  the  attempt  was 
made  by  the  Spanish  Inquisitors.  Both  prelates  sought 
refuge  and  protection  by  personal  recourse  to  Rome  (1490). 
Bishop  Davila,  in  spite  of  the  urgent  remonstrances  of  Isa- 
bella herself,  ultimately  secured  the  protection  of  Alexander 
VI.  and  was  invested  with  additional  dignities  and  honors. 
Bishop  Aranda  was  less  fortunate.  He  was  stripped  of  his 
office  and  possessions,  and  died  a  prisoner  in  the  castle  of 
St.  Angelo  in  1497. 

It  was  not  only  living  or  dying  heretics  who  paid  the 
penalty  of  their  unsound  opinions.  Men  long  dead,  if  they 
were  represented  by  rich  descendant.,  were  cited  before  the 
Tribunal,  judged,  condemned,  and  the  lands  and  goods  that 
had  descended  to  their  heirs  passed  into  the  coffers  of  the 
Catholic  kings.  The  scandal  was  so  great  that  Isabella 
actually  wrote  to  the  Bishop  of  Segovia  to  defend  herself 
against  an  accusation  that  no  one  had  ever  presumed  to 
formulate.  "I  have,"  said  the  queen,  "caused  great  ca- 
lamities, I  have  depopulated  towns  and  provinces  and  king- 
doms, for  the  love  of  Christ  and  of  His  Holy  Mother,  but 
I  have  never  touched  a  maravedi  of  confiscated  property; 
and  I  have  employed  the  money  in  educating  and  dower- 
ing the  children  of  the  condemned."  This  strange  apology, 
which  seems  to  have  to  some  extent  imposed  upon  Prescott, 
is  shown  by  more  recent  examination  of  the  State  papers  to 
be  a  most  deliberate  and  daring  falsehood,  and  would  go 
far  to  justify  the  suggestion  of  Bergenroth  that  if  Ferdi- 
nand never  scrupled  to  tell  direct  untruths  and  make  false 


THE   INQUISITION.  89 

promises  whenever  he  thought  it  expedient,  Queen  Isabella 
excelled  her  husband  in  "disregard  of  veracity." 

If  the  Holy  Office  had  existed  in  Aragon  in  an  undevel- 
oped state  from  the  thirteenth  to  the  fifteenth  century,  and 
if  it  was  actually  introduced  into  Castile  at  the  suggestion  of 
an  Inquistor  of  the  Aragonese  island  of  Sicily,  the  old  inde- 
pendence of  the  inhabitants  once  more  asserted  itself  when 
the  time  arrived  for  the  introduction  of  the  brand-new  Cas- 
tilian  Tribunal  into  the  old  kingdom  that  is  watered  by  the 
Ebro.  Saragossa,  indeed,  may  be  nearer  to  Rome  than  To- 
ledo; but  the  Catalan  has  ever  been  less  submissive  than 
his  brother  or  cousin  in  Castile ;  less  obedient  to  authority ; 
more  impatient  of  royal  and  ecclesiastical  oppression.  Yet 
Aragon,  which  had  defied  Innocent  at  Muret,  and  van- 
quished Martin  at  Gerona,  was  no  match  for  the  inquisi- 
tors of  Ferdinand  the  Catholic.  The  Inquisition,  as  we 
have  seen,  had  once  before  been  established  in  Aragon; 
but  in  one  most  important  particular  the  new  institution 
differed  from  the  old.  In  former  days,  even  in  the  rare 
cases  when  the  heretic  paid  the  penalty  of  his  heterodoxy 
with  his  life,  his  property  passed  to  his  heirs.  The  ecclesi- 
astical tribunal  of  Ferdinand  was  not  only  more  efficient 
in  the  matter  of  burning  or  otherwise  disposing  of  accused 
persons;  but  the  property  of  all  doubtful  Catholics,  even 
of  those  who  were  graciously  permitted  to  live  after  their 
trial,  was  absolutely  forfeit  to  the  crown.  And  the  num- 
ber of  rich  men,  not  only  converted  Jews  but  prosperous 
Christians,  whose  orthodoxy  failed  to  come  up  to  the  new 
standard,  was  even  in  those  days  considered  remarkable. 

Ferdinand  at  all  times  hated  popular  assemblies.  He 
spent  the  greater  part  of  his  time  in  Castile;  and  he  saw 


i)0  HISTORY   OF  SPAIN. 

as  little  as  possible  of  the  people  of  Aragon.  But  in  April, 
1484,  he  summoned  a  Cortes  at  Saragossa,  and  decreed  by 
royal  ordinance  the  establishment  of  the  new  tribunal.  The 
old  constitutional  spirit  of  the  Aragonese  seems  to  have 
evaporated;  and  a  degenerate  justiciary  was  found  to 
swear  to  support  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Inquisitors.  Yet 
envoys  and  delegates  of  the  Commons  of  Aragon  were  dis- 
patched to  Castile,  whither  Ferdinand  had  promptly  retired, 
and  also  to  Rome,  to  remonstrate  against  the  new  Institu- 
tion, and  more  especially  against  the  new  provisions  for  the 
forfeiture  of  the  property  of  the  convicted.  If  these  provis- 
ions, contrary  to  the  laws  of  Aragon,  were  repealed  or  sus- 
pended, the  deputies  "were  persuaded,"  and  there  was  a 
grim  humor  in  the  suggestion,  "that  the  Tribunal  itself 
would  soon  cease  to  exist." 

But  the  repression  of  heresy  was  far  too  profitable  an 
undertaking  to  be  lightly  abandoned;  nor  was  Ferdinand 
of  Aragon  the  man  to  abandon  it;  and  the  envoys  returned 
from  an  unsuccessful  mission  to  Valladolid  to  find  a  Quema- 
dero  already  blazing  at  Saragossa. 

Yet  the  Aragonese  were  not  at  once  reduced  to  subjec- 
tion. A  popular  conspiracy  led  to  the  assassination  of  the 
Inquisitor-general,  Pedro  de  Arbues,  in  spite  of  his  steel 
cap  and  coat  of  mail,  as  he  stood  one  day  at  matins  in  the 
Cathedral  of  Saragossa  (15th  September,  1457);  but  this 
daring  crime  served  only  to  enrage  Ferdinand  and  to 
strengthen  the  power  of  the  Inquisition.  A  most  rigorous 
and  indefatigable  inquiry,  which  was  extended  from  Sara- 
gossa into  every  part  of  Aragon,  was  at  once  undertaken ; 
and  an  immense  number  of  victims,  chosen  not  only  from 
among  the  people,  but  from  almost  every  noble  family  in 


THE   INQUISITION  91 

Aragon,  if  it  did  not  appease  the  vengeance  of  the  Inquisi- 
tors, gratified  at  least  the  avarice  of  Ferdinand.  Among 
the  accused,  indeed,  was  Don  Jayme  of  Navarre,  a  nephew 
of  the  King  of  Aragon— a  son  of  Eleanor,  queen  of  Na- 
varre, and  her  husband,  Gaston  de  Foix — who  was  actually 
arrested  and  imprisoned  by  the  Holy  Office;  and  discharged 
only  after  having  done  public  penance,  as  convicted  of  hav- 
ing in  some  way  sympathized  with  the  assassination  of 
Arbues.  But  it  may  be  noted  that  the  young  prince  was 
anything  but  a  favorite  with  his  uncle,  to  whom  this  bit  of 
ecclesiastical  discipline  was  no  doubt  very  gratifying. 

But  it  was  not  only  at  Saragossa  that  opposition  was 
offered  to  the  establishment  of  the  new  Tribunal.  In  every 
part  of  Aragon  and  of  Valencia;  at  Lerida,  at  Teruel,  at 
Barcelona,  the  people  rose  against  this  new  exhibition  of 
royal  and  priestly  tyranny.  And  it  was  not  for  fully  two 
years,  and  after  the  adoption  of  the  most  savage  measures 
of  repression  both  royal  and  ecclesiastical,  that  the  Inquisi- 
tion was  finally  accepted  in  the  kingdom  of  Aragon,  and 
that  Torquemada,  fortified  by  no  less  than  two  special  Bulls, 
made  his  triumphal  entry  as  Inquisitor-general  into  Bar- 
celona on  the  27th  of  October,  1488. 

Among  all  the  tens  of  thousands  of  innocent  persons 
who  were  tortured  and  done  to  death  by  the  Inquisition 
in  Spain,  it  is  instructive  to  turn  to  the  record  of  one  man 
at  least  who  broke  through  the  meshes  of  the  ecclesiastical 
net  that  was  spread  abroad  in  the  country;  for  the  mode 
of  his  escape  is  sufficiently  instructive.  Ready  money  at 
command,  but  not  exposed  to  seizure,  was  the  sole  shield 
and  safeguard  against  the  assaults  of  Church  and  State. 
Don  Alfonso  de  la  Caballeria  was  a  Jew  by  race,  and  a 


92  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

man  who  was  actually  concerned  in  the  murder  of  the  In- 
quisitor Arbues;  but  his  great  wealth  enabled  him  to  pur- 
chase not  only  one  but  two  Briefs  from  Rome,  and  to  secure 
the  further  favor  of  Ferdinand.  He  was  accused  and  prose- 
cuted in  vain  by  the  Holy  Office  of  Aragon.  He  not  only 
escaped  with  his  life,  but  he  rose  to  a  high  position  in  the 
State,  and  eventually  mingled  his  Jewish  and  heretic  blood 
with  that  of  royalty  itself. 

Various  attempts  were  made  by  the  Commons  of  A  ra- 
gon  to  abate  the  powers  of  the  Inquisition;  and  at  the 
Cortes  of  Monzon,  in  1510,  so  vigorous  a  remonstrance  was 
addressed  to  Ferdinand  that  he  was  unable  to  do  more  than 
avoid  a  decision,  by  a  postponement  on  the  ground  of  desir- 
ing fuller  information;  and  two  years  later,  at  the  same 
place,  he  was  compelled  to  sanction  a  declaration  or  ordi- 
nance, by  which  the  authority  assumed  by  the  Holy  Office, 
in  defiance  of  the  Constitution  of  Aragon,  was  specifically 
declared  to  be  illegal;  and  the  king  swore  to  abolish  the 
privileges  and  jurisdiction  of  the  Inquisition.  Within  a 
few  months,  however,  he  caused  himself  to  be  absolved 
from  this  oath  by  a  Papal  Brief;  and  the  Inquisition  re- 
mained unreformed  and  triumphant.  But  the  Aragonese 
had  not  yet  entirely  lost  their  independence,  and  a  popular 
rising  compelled  the  king  not  only  to  renounce  the  Brief, 
so  lately  received,  but  to  solicit  from  the  Pope  a  Bull  (May 
12,  1515),  exonerating  him  from  so  doing,  and  calling  upon 
all  men,  lay  and  ecclesiastical,  to  maintain  the  authority  of 
the  Cortes.  Aragon  was  satisfied.  And  the  people  enjoyed 
for  a  season  the  blessings  of  comparative  immunity  from 
persecution. 

To  recall  the  manifold  horrors  of  the  actual  working  of 


THE   INQUISITION.  93 

the  Inquisition  in  Spain  would  be  a  painful  and  an  odious 
task.  To  record  them  in  any  detail  is  surely  superfluous; 
even  though  they  are  entirely  denied  by  such  eminent  mod- 
ern writers  as  Hefele,  in  Germany,  or  Menendez  Pelayo,  in 
Spain.  The  hidden  enemy,  the  secret  denunciation,  the 
sudden  arrest,  the  unknown  dungeon,  the  prolonged  inter- 
rogatory, the  hideous  torture,  the  pitiless  judge,  the  cer- 
tain sentence,  the  cruel  execution,  the  public  display  of 
sacerdotal  vengeance,  the  plunder  of  the  survivors,  inno- 
cent even  of  ecclesiastical  offense — all  these  things  are 
known  to  every  reader  of  every  history.  All  other  con- 
siderations apart,  it  is  an  abuse  of  language  to  speak  of 
the  proceedings  before  the  Inquisition  as  a  trial,  for  the 
tribunal  was  nothing  but  a  Board  of  Conviction.  One 
acquittal  in  two  thousand  accusations  was,  according  to 
Llorente,  who  had  access  to  all  the  records  of  the  Holy 
Office  in  Spain,  about  the  proportion  that  was  observed 
in  their  judicial  findings. 

Statistics,  as  a  rule,  are  not  convincing,  and  figures  are 
rarely  impressive;  yet  it  may  be  added  that,  according  to 
Llorente's  cautious  estimate,  over  ten  thousand  persons  were 
burned  alive  during  the  eighteen  years  of  Torquemada's 
supremacy  alone ;  that  over  six  thousand  more  were  burned 
in  effigy  either  in  their  absence  or  after  their  death,  and 
their  property  acquired  by  the  Holy  Office ;  while  the  num- 
ber of  those  whose  goods  were  confiscated,  after  undergoing 
less  rigorous  punishments,  is  variously  computed  at  some- 
what more  or  somewhat  less  than  one  hundred  thousand. 
But  it  is  obvious  that  even  these  terrible  figures  give  but  a 
very  feeble  idea  of  the  vast  sum  of  human  suffering  that 
followed  the  steps  of  this  dreadful  institution.  For  they 


94  HISTORTl    OF  SPAIN. 

tell  no  tale  of  the  thousands  who  died,  and  the  tens  of  thou- 
sands who  suffered,  in  the  torture  chamber.  They  hardly 
suggest  the  anguish  of  the  widow  and  the  orphan  of  the 
principal  victims,  who  were  left,  bereaved  and  plundered, 
to  struggle  with  a  hard  and  unsympathetic  world,  desolate, 
poor,  and  disgraced. 

Nor  does  the  most  exaggerated  presentment  of  human 
suffering  tell  of  the  disastrous  effects  of  the  entire  system 
upon  religion,  upon  morals,  upon  civil  society  at  large. 
The  terrorism,  the  espionage,  the  daily  and  hourly  dread 
of  denunciation,  in  which  every  honest  man  and  woman 
must  have  lived,  the  boundless  opportunities  for  extortion 
and  for  the  gratification  of  private  vengeance  and  worldly 
hatred,  must  have  poisoned  the  whole  social  life  of  Spain. 
The  work  of  the  Inquisition,  while  it  tended,  no  doubt,  to 
make  men  orthodox,  tended  also  to  make  them  false,  and 
suspicious,  and  cruel.  Before  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  the  Holy  Office  had  profoundly  affected  the  na- 
tional character;  and  the  Spaniard,  who  had  been  cele- 
brated in  Europe  during  countless  centuries  for  every  manly 
virtue,  became,  in  the  new  world  that  had  been  given  to 
him,  no  less  notorious  for  a  cruelty  beyond  the  imagination 
of  a  Roman  emperor,  and  a  rapacity  beyond  the  dreams  of 
a  republican  proconsul. 

Torquemada  and  Ferdinand  may  have  burned  their  thou- 
sands and  plundered  their  ten  thousands  in  Spain.  Their 
disciples  put  to  death  millions  of  the  gentlest  races  of  the 
earth,  and  ravaged  without  scruple  or  pity  the  fairest  and 
most  fertile  regions  of  the  new  Continent  which  had  been 
given  to  them  to  possess. 

As  long  as  the  Inquisition  confined  its  operations  to  the 


THE   INQUISITION.  95 

Jews  and  the  Moors,  the  Old  Christians  were  injured  and 
depraved  by  the  development  of  those  tendencies  to  cruelty 
and  rapacity  that  lie  dormant  in  the  heart  of  every  man. 
But  this  was  not  the  end.  For  when  Spain  at  length  shel- 
tered no  more  aliens  to  be  persecuted  and  plundered  in  the 
name  of  religion,  and  murder  and  extortion  were  forced  to 
seek  their  easy  prey  in  the  new  world  beyond  the  Atlantic 
Ocean,  the  Holy  Office  turned  its  attention  to  domestic 
heresy;  and  the  character  of  the  Spaniard  in  Europe  be- 
came still  further  demoralized  and  perverted.  Every  man 
was  suspected.  Every  man  became  suspicious.  The  light- 
est word  might  lead  to  the  heaviest  accusation.  The  nation 
became  somber  and  silent.  Religious  life  was  but  a  step 
removed  from  heresy.  Religion  died.  Original  thought 
was  above  all  things  dangerous.  The  Spaniard  took  ref- 
uge in  Routine.  Social  intercourse  was  obviously  full  of 
peril.  A  prudent  man  kept  himself  to  himself,  and  was 
glad  to  escape  the  observation  of  his  neighbors.  Castile 
became  a  spiritual  desert.  The  Castilian  wrapped  himself 
in  his  cloak,  and  sought  safety  in  dignified  abstraction. 
The  Holy  Office  has  done  its  work  in  Spain.  A  rapa- 
cious government,  an  enslaved  people,  a  hollow  religion, 
a  corrupt  Church,  a  century  of  blood,  three  centuries  of 
shame,  all  these  things  followed  in  its  wake.  And  the 
country  of  Viriatus  and  Seneca,  of  Trajan  and  Marcus 
Aurelius,  where  Ruy  Diaz  fought,  and  Alfonso  studied, 
and  where  two  warrior  kings  in  two  successive  centuries 
defied  Rome  temporal  and  Rome  spiritual,  and  all  the 
crusaders  of  Europe — Spain,  hardly  conquered  by  Scipio 
or  by  Caesar,  was  enslaved  by  the  dead  hand  of  Dominic. 

5 


CHAPTER    VI 
THEIR  CATHOLIC  MAJESTIES 

THE  BANISHMENT    OF    THE  JEWS  —  INTERNATIONAL   NEGO- 
TIATIONS—THE SPANIARDS  IN  ITALY  — THE  VICTORIES 
OF  GONSALVO  — THE  BEGINNING  OF  A  NEW  ERA 

THE  fall  of  Granada  left  the  Catholic  sovereigns  free 
to  turn  their  attention  more  completely  to  the  domestic 
affairs  of  the  kingdom ;  and  it  seems  moreover  to  have  in- 
creased the  bigotry  both  of  the  Church  and  of  the  Court, 
and  to  have  added  new  zeal  to  the  fury  of  the  Inquisition. 

The  conquest  of  the  Moorish  kingdom  was  said  by  pious 
ecclesiastics  to  be  a  special  sign  or  manifestation  of  the  ap- 
proval by  Heaven  of  the  recent  institution  of  the  Holy 
Office.  The  knights  and  nobles,  proud  of  their  military 
successes,  may  have  attributed  the  victory  to  causes  more 
flattering  to  their  valor,  their  skill,  and  their  perseverance. 
The  common  people,  as  yet  not  demoralized,  but  gorged 
with  plunder,  and  invited  to  occupy  without  purchase  the 
fairest  province  in  the  Peninsula,  were  little  disposed  to 
quarrel  with  the  policy  of  Ferdinand ;  and  far  from  feeling 
any  pity  for  the  sufferings  of  the  vanquished  Moors,  they 
sighed  for  new  infidels  to  pillage.  And  new  infidels  were 
promptly  found. 

The  Inquisition  so  far  had  troubled  itself  but  little  with 
Christian  heretics.  The  early  Spanish  Protestantism  of  the 
thirteenth  century  had  died  away.  The  later  Spanish  Prot- 
(96) 


THEIR    CATHOLIC  MAJESTIES.  97 

estantism  of  the  sixteenth  century  had  not  yet  come  into 
existence.  Few  men  had  done  more  than  Averroes  of  Cor- 
dova and  Ramon  Lull  of  Palma  to  awaken  religious  thought 
in  Medieval  Europe;  yet  speculative  theology  has  never 
been  popular  among  the  Spanish  people.  It  was  against 
the  Jews,  renegade  or  relapsed,  even  more  than  the  avowedly 
unconverted,  that  the  Holy  Office  directed  all  its  exertions 
until  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century.  By  April,  1492,  al- 
though a  great  number  of  the  unfortunate  Hebrews  had 
already  found  their  way  to  the  Quemadero,  there  was  still 
a  very  large  Jewish  population  in  Spain,  the  most  industri- 
ous, the  most  intelligent,  the  most  orderly,  but,  unhappily 
for  themselves,  the  most  wealthy  of  all  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Peninsula. 

The  Spanish  Jews,  as  we  have  seen,  were  treated  on 
the  arrival  of  the  Arab  conquerors  not  only  with  considera- 
tion, but  with  an  amount  of  favor  that  was  not  extended 
to  them  under  any  other  government  in  the  world;  nor 
was  this  wise  liberality,  as  time  went  on,  displayed  only 
by  the  Moslem  in  Spam.  At  the  Christian  courts  of  Leon, 
of  Castile,  and  of  Catalonia,  the  Jews  were  welcomed  as 
lenders  of  money  and  as  healers  of  diseases,  and  as  men 
skilled  in  many  industrial  arts;  and  they  supplied  what 
little  science  was  required  in  northern  Spain,  while  their 
brethren  shared  in  the  magnificent  culture  and  extended 
studies  of  Cordova.  When  the  rule  of  the  Arab  declined, 
and  Alfonso  el  Sabio  held  his  court  at  southern  Seville,  the 
learned  Jews  were  his  chosen  companions.  They  certainly 
assisted  him  in  the  preparation  of  his  great  astronomical 
tables.  They  probably  assisted  him  in  bis  translation  of 
the  Bible 


98  HISTORY   OF  SPAIN. 

Nor  does  this  court  favor  appear  to  have  caused  any 
serious  jealousy  among  Christian  Spaniards.  The  fellow- 
student  of  Alfonso  X.,  the  trusted  treasurer  of  Peter  the 
Cruel,  the  accommodating  banker  of  many  a  king  and 
many  a  noble — the  Jew  was  for  some  time  a  personage  of 
importance  rather  than  a  refugee  in  the  Peninsula.  And 
during  the  whole  of  the  thirteenth  century,  while  the  Jews 
were  exposed  throughout  western  Europe  to  the  most  dread- 
ful and  systematic  persecutions,  they  enjoyed  in  Spain  not 
only  immunity,  but  protection,  not  only  religious  freedom, 
but  political  consideration. 

Under  Alfonso  XI.  they  were  particularly  regarded,  and 
even  under  Peter  the  Cruel,  who,  though  he  tortured  and 
robbed  his  Hebrew  treasurer,  did  not  at  any  time  display 
his  natural  ferocity  in  any  form  of  religious  persecution. 
Yet,  as  we  are  told  that  his  rival  and  successor,  Henry  of 
Trastamara,  sought  popular  favor  by  molesting  the  Jews, 
it  would  seem  that  already  by  the  end  of  the  fourteenth 
century  they  were  becoming  unpopular  in  Castile.  But 
on  the  whole,  throughout  the  Peninsula,  from  the  time  of 
James  I.  of  Aragon,  who  is  said  to  have  studied  ethics 
under  a  Jewish  professor,  to  the  time  of  John  II.  of  Cas- 
tile, who  employed  a  Jewish  secretary  in  the  compilation 
of  a  national  "Cancionero,"  or  ballad  book,  the  Jews  were 
not  only  distinguished,  but  encouraged,  in  literature  and 
abstract  science,  as  they  had  always  been  in  the  more  prac- 
tical pursuits  of  medicine  and  of  commerce. 

But  in  jess  than  a  century  after  the  death  of  Alfonso 
X.  the  tide  of  fortune  had  turned.  Their  riches  increased 
overmuch  in  a  disturbed  and  impoverished  commonwealth, 
and  public  indignation  began  to  be  displayed,  rather  at 


their  un- Christian  opulence  than  at  their  Jewish  faith.  In- 
quisition was  made  rather  into  their  strong-boxes  than  into 
their  theology;  and  it  was  their  debtors  and  their  rivals, 
rather  than  any  religious  purists,  who,  toward  the  end  of 
the  fourteenth  century,  and  more  especially  in  Aragon, 
stirred  up  those  popular  risings  against  their  race  that  led 
to  the  massacres  and  the  wholesale  conversions  of  1391. 
The  first  attack  that  was  made  upon  the  persons  and  prop- 
erty of  the  Jews  was  in  1388,  and  it  was  no  doubt  provoked 
by  the  preaching  of  the  fanatic  archdeacon  Hernando  Mar- 
tinez at  Seville.  But  it  was  in  nowise  religious  in  its  char- 
acter, and  was  aimed  chiefly  at  the  acquisition  and  destruc- 
tion of  the  property  of  the  rich  and  prosperous  Hebrews. 
The  outbreaks  which  took  place  almost  simultaneously  in 
all  parts  of  Spain  were  disapproved  both  by  kings  and 
councils.  Special  judges  were  sent  to  the  disturbed  cities, 
and  a  considerable  amount  of  real  protection  was  extended 
to  the  plundered  people.  No  one  said  a  word  about  con- 
version; or  at  least  the  conversion  was  that  of  ancient 
Pistol,  the  conversion  of  the  property  of  the  Jews  into 
the  possession  of  the  Christians.  When  the  Jewish  quarter 
of  Barcelona  was  sacked  by  the  populace,  and  an  immense 
number  of  Hebrews  were  despoiled  and  massacred  through- 
out the  country,  John  of  Aragon,  indolent  though  he  was, 
used  his  utmost  endeavors  to  check  the  slaughter.  He 
punished  the  aggressors,  and  he  even  caused  a  restitution 
of  goods  to  be  made  to  such  of  the  victims  as  survived. 
The  preaching  of  St.  Vincent  Ferrer,  during  the  early 
part  of  the  fifteenth  century,  was  addressed  largely  to  the 
Jews  in  Spain,  but  little  or  no  religious  persecution  seems 
to  have  been  directed  against  them  in  consequence  of  his 


100  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

harangues.  On  the  contrary,  we  read  of  friendly  confer- 
ences or  public  disputations  between  Jewish  and  Christian 
doctors  in  Aragon,  where  the  Inquisition  was,  at  least, 
nominally  established.  Such  conferences  could  hardly  be 
expected  to  convince  or  convert  the  advocates  of  either 
faith,  but  they  tell  at  least  of  an  amount  of  toleration  on 
the  part  of  the  Christian  authorities  of  the  day  that  was 
certainly  not  to  be  found  in  Spain  at  the  close  of  the  cent- 
ury; and  there  is  no  doubt  that  they  were  followed  by  a 
very  large  number  of  conversions  of  the  more  malleable 
members  of  the  Hebrew  community.  But  it  is  a  far  cry 
from  St.  Vincent  Ferrer  to  the  uncanonized  Tomas  de 
Torquemada. 

Yet,  even  in  outward  conformity  to  the  established 
religion,  the  Jews,  as  time  went  on,  found  no  permanent 
safety  from  persecution  and  plunder.  John  II.  indeed 
had  little  of  the  bigot  in  his  composition;  it  was  Politics 
and  not  Persecution  that,  under  his  successor,  engrossed 
the  attention  of  clergy  and  laity  in  Castile;  but,  as  soon 
as  the  power  of  Isabella  was  formally  established,  the  de- 
struction of  all  that  was  not  orthodox,  Catholic,  and  Span- 
ish, became  the  key-note  of  the  domestic  policy  of  the  new 
government  of  Spain. 

The  earliest  efforts  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition  were 
directed,  as  we  have  seen,  almost  exclusively  against 
those  converted  Jews,  or  the  sons  and  daughters  of  con- 
verts, who  were  known  by  the  expressive  name  of  New 
Christians,  a  title  applied  also  to  Christianized  Moslems, 
and  which  distinguished  both  classes  from  the  Old  Chris- 
tians or  Cristianos  Viejos,  who  could  boast  of  a  pure  Cas- 
tilian  ancestry.  These  New  Christians,  as  a  whole,  at 


THEIR    CATHOLIC    MAJESTIES.  101 

the  eiid  of  the  fifteenth  century,  were  among  the  richest, 
the  most  industrious,  and  the  most  intelligent  of  the  popu- 
lation, and  they  were  regarded  with  considerable  envy 
by  their  poorer  neighbors,  whose  blue  blood  did  not  al- 
ways bring  with  it  either  wealth  or  fortune.  The  Rules 
and  Regulations  for  the  guidance  of  the  Inquisitors  were 
therefore  specially  framed  to  include  every  possible  act 
or  thought  that  might  bring  the  members  of  the  classes 
specially  aimed  at  within  the  deadly  category  of  the  Re- 
lapsed. If  the  "New  Christian"  wore  a  clean  shirt,  or 
spread  clean  table-linen  on  a  Saturday  (Art.  4),  if  he  ate 
meat  in  Lent  (7),  observed  any  of  the  Jewish  fasts  (8-17), 
or  sat  at  table  with  any  Jew  of  his  acquaintance  (19);  if 
he  recited  one  of  the  Psalms  of  David  without  the  addi- 
tion of  the  Doxology  (20),  if  he  caused  his  child  to  be 
baptized  under  a  Hebrew  name  (23),  he  was  to  be  treated 
as  a  renegade  and  condemned  to  the  flames. 

"With  every  act  of  his  life  thus  at  the  mercy  of  spies 
and  informers,  his  last  end  was  not  unobserved  by  the  Do- 
minicans and  the  Familiars  of  the  Holy  Office.  If  in  the 
article  of  death  he  turned  his  weary  face  (31)  to  the  wall 
of  his  chamber,  he  was  adjudged  relapsed,  and  all  his 
possessions  were  forfeit;  or  if  the  sorrowing  children  of 
even  the  most  unexceptionable  convert  had  washed  his 
dead  body  with  warm  water  (32)  they  were  to  be  treated 
as  apostates  and  heretics,  and  were  at  least  liable  to  suffer 
death  by  fire,  after  their  goods  had  been  appropriated  by 
the  Holy  Office  or  by  the  Crown. 

In  the  sentences  which  condemned  to  the  stake,  to  con 
fiscation,  and  to  penances  which  were  punishments  of  the 
severest    description,    we    find    enumerated    such    offenses 


IO<J  HISTORY   OF   SPAIb. 

as  the  avoiding  the  use  of  fat,  and  especially  of  lard ;  pre- 
paring amive,  a  kind  of  broth  much  appreciated  by  the 
Jews;  or  eating  "Passover  bread";  reading,  or  even  pos- 
sessing, a  Hebrew  Bible;  ignorance  of  the  Pater  noster 
and  the  Creed;  saying  that  a  good  Jew  could  be  saved, 
and  a  thousand  other  equally  harmless  deeds  or  words. 

But  with  the  professed  and  avowed  Jew,  unpopular 
as  he  Tiay  have  been  with  his  neighbors,  and  exposed 
at  times  to  various  forms  of  civil  and  religious  outrage, 
the  Holy  Office  did  not  directly  concern  itself.  The  He- 
brew, like  the  Moslem,  was  outside  the  pale  even  of  Chris- 
tian inquiry. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  it  was  the  success  of  the  opera- 
tions against  the  Moors  of  Granada  that  suggested  to 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella  the  undertaking  of  a  campaign, 
easier  by  far,  and  scarcely  less  lucrative,  against  the  un- 
happy descendants  of  Abraham  who  had  made  their  home 
in  Spain. 

The  annual  revenue  that  was  derived  by  the  Catholic 
sovereigns  from  the  confiscations  of  the  Inquisition 
amounted  to  a  considerable  income;  and  the  source  as 
yet  showed  no  signs  of  drying  up.  Yet  cupidity,  march- 
ing hand  in  hand  with  intolerance  —  the  Devil,  as  the 
Spanish  proverb  has  it,  ever  lurking  behind  the  Cross — 
the  sovereigns  resolved  upon  the  perpetration  of  an  act 
of  State  more  dreadful  than  the  most  comprehensive  of 
the  Autos  da  Fe. 

The  work  of  the  Holy  Office  was  too  slow.  The  limits 
of  the  Quemadero  were  too  small.  Hah*  a  million  Jews 
yet  lived  unbaptized  in  Spain.  They  should  be  destroyed 
at  a  single  blow.  The  Inquisition  might  be  left  to  reckon 


THEIR    CATHOLIC    MAJESTIES.  103 

with  the  New  Christians  whose  conversion  was  unsatis- 
factory. 

As  soon  as  the  Spanish  Jews  obtained  an  intimation 
of  what  was  contemplated  against  them,  they  took  steps 
to  propitiate  the  sovereigns  by  the  tender  of  a  donative 
of  thirty  thousand  ducats,  toward  defraying  the  expenses 
of  the  Moorish  war;  and  an  influential  Jewish  leader  is 
said  to  have  waited  upon  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  in  their 
quarters  at  Sante  Fe,  to  urge  the  acceptance  of  the  bribe. 
The  negotiations,  however,  were  suddenly  interrupted  by 
Torquemada,  who  burst  into  the  apartment  where  the  sov- 
ereigns were  giving  audience  ^to  the  Jewish  deputy,  and 
drawing  forth  a  crucifix  from  beneath  his  mantle,  held  it 
up,  exclaiming,  "Judas  Iscariot  sold  his  master  for  thirty 
pieces  of  silver;  Your  Highnesses  would  sell  him  anew 
for  thirty  thousand;  here  he  is,  take  him  and  barter  him 
away."  The  extravagant  presumption  of  the  inquisitor- 
general  would  not  perhaps  have  been  as  successful  as  it 
was,  had  it  not  been  obvious  to  the  rapacious  Ferdinand 
that  thirty  thousand  ducats  was  a  trifle  compared  with 
the  plunder  of  the  entire  body  of  Jews  in  Spain.  Yet  the 
action  of  Torquemada  was  no  doubt  calculated  to  affect 
the  superstitious  mind  of  Isabella,  and  even  the  colder 
spirit  of  Ferdinand. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  scruples  of  the  Spanish 
sovereigns,  the  fanaticism  of  the  Spanish  people  had  been 
at  this  critical  juncture  stirred  up  to  an  unusual  pitch  of 
fury  by  the  proceedings  and  reports  of  the  Holy  Office  in 
a  case  which  has  attracted  an  amount  of  attention  so 
entirely  disproportionate  to  its  apparent  importance  that 
it  merits  something  more  than  a  passing  notice. 


104  HISTORY    OF   SPAIN. 

In  June,  1490,  a  converted  Jew  of  the  name  of  Benito 
Garcia,  on  his  way  back  from  a  pilgrimage  to  Compos- 
tella,  was  waylaid  and  robbed  near  Astorga,  by  some  of 
the  Christian  inhabitants.  A  Jew,  converted  or  other- 
wise, was  a  legitimate  object  of  plunder.  The  contents 
of  his  knapsack  not  being  entirely  satisfactory,  and  the 
ecclesiastical  authorities  sniffing  sacrilege  in  what  was 
supposed  to  be  a  piece  of  the  consecrated  wafer,  Garcia, 
and  not  the  robbers,  was  arrested,  subjected  to  incredible 
tortures,  and  finally  handed  over  to  the  local  inquisitors. 

His  case  was  heard  with  that  of  other  Conversos;  first 
at  Segovia  and  afterward  at  Avila.  Tortures  were  re- 
peated. Spies  were  introduced  in  various  guises  and  dis- 
guises, but  no  confession  could  be  extorted. 

At  length,  after  a  year  and  a  half  of  such  practices, 
the  endurance  of  one  of  the  accused  gave  way — the  dread- 
ful story  affords  some  slight  notion  of  the  methods  of  the 
Inquisition — and  the  unhappy  man  invented  a  tale  in  ac- 
cordance with  what  was  demanded  of  him ;  the  crucifixion 
of  a  Christian  child;  the  tearing  out  of  his  heart,  the  theft 
of  the  Host  from  a  Christian  Church,  and  a  magical  in- 
cantation over  the  dreadful  elements,  directed  against 
Christianity,  and  more  particularly  against  the  Holy  Office. 
The  Tribunal  having  been  thus  satisfied  of  the  guilt  of 
the  accused,  a  solemn  Auto  da  Fe  was  held  at  Avila,  on 
the  16th  of  November,  1491,  when  two  of  the  convicts 
were  torn  to  death  with  red-hot  pincers;  three  who  had 
been  more  mercifully  permitted  to  die  under  the  prelim- 
inary tortures  were  burned  in  effigy;  while  the  remaining 
prisoners  were  visited  only  with  the  slight  punishment  of 
strangulation  before  their  consignment  to  the  inevitable 


THEIR    CATHOLIC    MAJESTIES.  105 

fire.  That  no  boy,  with  or  without  a  heart,  could  be 
found  or  invented,  by  the  most  rigorous  examination;  that 
no  Christian  child  had  disappeared  from  the  neighborhood 
of  the  unhappy  Jews  at  the  time  of  their  arrest — this  sur- 
prised no  one.  In  matters  of  Faith  such  evidences  were 
wholly  superfluous.  Secura  judicat  Ecclesia. 

That  these  poor  Hebrews  should  have  suffered  torture 
and  death  for  an  imaginary  sacrilege  upon  the  person  of 
an  imaginary  boy,  was  indeed  a  thing  by  no  means  un- 
exampled hi  the  history  of  religious  fanaticism.  But  the 
sequel  is  certainly  extraordinary.  With  a  view  of  exciting 
the  indignation  of  the  sovereigns  and  of  the  people  against 
the  Jews  at  an  important  moment,  Torquemada  devoted 
much  attention  to  the  publication  throughout  Spain  of  the 
dreadful  story  of  the  murdered  boy,  the  Nino  of  La  Guar- 
dia,  the  village  where  the  crime  is  supposed  to  have  taken 
place.  As  to  the  name  of  the  victim,  the  authorities  did 
not  agree.  Some  maintained  that  it  was  Christopher,  while 
others  declared  for  John.  But  the  recital  of  the  awful 
wickedness  of  the  Jews  lost  none  of  its  force  by  adverse 
criticism.  The  legend  spread  from  altar  to  altar  through- 
out the  country.  The  Nuno  de  la  Guardia  at  once  became 
a  popular  hero,  in  course  of  time,  a  popular  saint;  miracles 
were  freely  worked  upon  the  spot  where  his  remains  had 
not  been  found,  and  something  over  a  century  later  (1613) 
his  canonization  was  demanded  at  Rome. 

His  remains,  it  was  asserted  by  Francisco  de  Quevedo, 
could  not  be  found  on  earth,  only  because  his  body  as  well 
as  his  soul  had  been  miraculously  carried  up  to  heaven, 
where  it  was  the  most  powerful  advocate  and  protector 
of  the  Spanish  monarchy.  The  story,  moreover,  has  been 


106  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

twice  dramatized — once  by  Lope  de  Vega — and  no  less  than 
three  admiring  biographies  of  this  imaginary  martyr  have 
been  published  in  Spain  within  the  last  forty  years  of  this 
nineteenth  century. 

At  length  from  conquered  Granada,  on  the  30th  of 
March,  1492,  the  dreadful  edict  went  forth.  By  the  30th 
of  July  not  a  Jew  was  to  be  left  alive  in  Spain.  Sisenand, 
indeed,  nine  hundred  years  before,  had  promulgated  such 
an  edict.  But  the  Visigoth  had  been  too  tender-hearted 
to  enforce  it.  Isabella,  whose  gentleness  and  goodness  his- 
torians are  never  tired  of  applauding,  was  influenced  by 
no  such  considerations,  and  the  sentence  was  carried  out 
to  the  letter.  With  a  cruel  irony,  the  banished  people 
were  permitted  to  sell  their  property,  yet  forbidden  to 
carry  the  money  out  of  the  kingdom,  a  provision  which 
has  obtained  the  warm  approval  of  more  than  one  modern 
Spanish  historian,  by  whom  it  is  accepted  as  a  conclusive 
proof  that  this  wholesale  depopulation  did  not  and  could 
not  diminish  the  wealth  of  Spain! 

Thus  two  hundred  thousand  Spaniards,  men,  women, 
and  children  of  tender  years,  rich  and  poor,  men  of  refine- 
ment and  of  position,  ladies  reared  in  luxury,  the  aged,  the 
sick,  the  infirm,  all  were  included  in  one  common  destruc- 
tion, and  were  driven,  stripped  of  everything,  from  their 
peaceful  homes,  to  die  on  their  way  to  some  less  savage 
country.  For  the  sentence  was  carried  out  with  the  most 
relentless  ferocity.  Every  road  to  the  coast,  we  read,  was 
thronged  with  the  unhappy  fugitives,  struggling  to  carry 
off  some  shred  of  their  ruined  homes.  To  succor  them  was 
death;  to  pillage  them  was  piety.  At  every  seaport,  rapa- 
cious shipmasters  exacted  from  the  defenseless  travelers  the 


THEIR    CATHOLIC   MAJESTIES.  107 

greater  part  of  their  remaining  possessions,  as  the  price  of 
a  passage  to  some  neighboring  coast ;  and  in  many  cases 
the  passenger  was  tossed  overboard  ere  the  voyage  was 
completed,  and  his  goods  confiscated  to  the  crew.  A 
rumor  having  got  abroad  that  the  fugitives  were  in  the 
habit  of  swallowing  jewels  and  gold  pieces  in  order  to 
evade  the  royal  decree,  thousands  of  unhappy  beings  were 
ripped  up  by  the  greedy  knife  of  the  enemy,  on  land  or 
sea,  on  the  chance  of  discovering  in  their  mutilated  remains 
some  little  store  of  treasure. 

And  thus,  north,  south,  east,  and  west,  the  Jews  strag- 
gled and  struggled  over  Spain;  and  undeterred  by  the. mani- 
fold terrors  of  the  sea,  a  vast  multitude  of  exiles,  whose 
homes  in  Spain  once  lay  in  sunny  Andalusia,  sought  and 
found  an  uncertain  abiding  place  in  neighboring  Africa. 

Of  all  Christian  countries,  it  was  in  neighboring  Portu- 
gal that  the  greatest  number  of  the  exiles  found  refuge  and 
shelter;  until,  after  five  brief  years  of  peace  and  compara- 
tive prosperity,  the  heavy  hand  of  Castilian  intolerance 
once  more  descended  upon  them,  and  they  were  driven 
out  of  the  country,  at  the  bidding  of  Isabella  and  her  too 
dutiful  daughter,  the  hope  of  Portugal  and  of  Castile. 

But  to  every  country  in  Europe  the  footsteps  of  some 
of  the  sufferers  were  directed.  Not  a  few  were  permitted 
to  abide  in  Italy  and  Southern  France;  some  of  the  most 
distinguished  found  a  haven  in  England ;  many  were  fortu- 
nate enough  to  reach  the  Ottoman  dominions,  where,  under 
the  tolerant  government  of  the  Turk,  they  lived  and  pros- 
pered, and  where  their  descendants,  at  many  of  the  more 
important  seaports  of  the  Levant,  are  still  found  to  speak 
the  Castilian  of  their  forefathers. 


108  HI8TORV    OF  SPAIN. 

That  the  edict  of  banishment  was  meant  to  be,  as  it  so 
constantly  was,  a  doom  of  death,  and  not  merely  a  removal 
of  heretics,  is  clear  from  the  action  of  the  Spanish  sovereigns, 
who,  at  the  instigation  of  Torquemada,  procured  from  the 
pliant  Innocent  VIII.  a  Bull  enjoining  the  authorities  of 
every  country  hi  Christian  Europe  to  arrest  and  send  back 
to  Spain  all  fugitive  Jews  under  penalty  of  the  Greater 
Excommunication. 

More  than  once,  indeed,  the  demand  for  extradition  was 
made.  But  save  in  the  case  of  the  Portuguese  Jews,  on 
the  second  marriage  of  the  Princess  Isabella  to  the  reign- 
ing sovereign  of  that  country,  no  foreign  prince  appears  to 
have  paid  any  heed  to  this  savage  edict.  Nor  was  it,  as 
a  rule,  of  any  material  advantage,  either  at  Rome  or  at 
Seville,  that  it  should  be  put  in  force. 

Avarice  was  perhaps  the  besetting  sin  of  Rome  in  the 
fifteenth  century;  nor  was  bigotry  unknown  throughout 
western  Europe.  But  in  Spain,  as  the  century  drew  to  a 
close,  avarice  and  bigotry  joined  hand  in  hand,  and  flour- 
ished under  royal  and  noble  patronage,  preached  by  religion, 
practiced  by  policy,  and  applauded  by  patriotism.  It  was 
not  strange  that,  under  such  teaching,  the  people  of  Castile 
should  have  rapidly  become  demoralized,  and  that  the  great 
race  should  have  begun  to  develop  that  sordid  and  self- 
satisfied  savagery  which  disgraced  the  name  of  the  Span- 
iard, in  the  heartless  and  short-sighted  plunder  of  the  new 
world  that  lay  before  him. 

Yet  in  all  human  affairs  there  is  something  that  too 
often  escapes  our  observation,  to  explain,  if  not  to  excuse, 
what  may  seem  the  most  dreadful  aberrations  of  the  better 
nature  of  man.  And  it  may  be  that  the  uncompromising 


THEIR    CATHOLIC   MAJESTIES.  109 

religious  spirit,  which  has  had  so  enormous  an  influence  for 
evil  and  for  good  upon  the  Spanish  people,  is  to  some  extent 
the  result  of  their  Semitic  environment  of  eight  hundred 
years. 

Religious  controversy  indeed,  between  rival  branches  of 
the  Christian  Church  in  the  days  of  the  Visigoths,  developed 
religious  animosities  before  the  first  Moslem  landed  at  Tarif a ; 
yet  the  Arab  and  the  Moor,  fired  with  the  enthusiasm  of  a 
new  and  living  faith,  brought  into  their  daily  life  in  Spain, 
in  peace  and  in  war,  a  deep  and  all -pervading  religious 
spirit— an  active  recognition  of  the  constant  presence  of 
one  true  God — unknown  to  the  Roman  or  the  Visigoth, 
which  must  have  had  an  enormous  influence  upon  the 
grave  and  serious  Spaniards  who  lived  under  the  rule 
of  the  Arab. 

Nor  was  the  Moslem  the  only  factor  in  this  medieval 
development.  In  no  other  country  in  Europe  was  the  Jew, 
as  we  have  seen,  more  largely  represented,  and  more  power- 
ful, for  the  first  fifteen  centuries  of  our  era,  than  in  Spain, 
whether  under  Christian  or  Moslem  masters.  But  the  direct 
and  simple  monotheism  of  the  Hebrew  and  the  Arab,  while 
it  had  so  great  a  direct  influence  upon  Spanish  Christianity, 
provoked  as  part  of  the  natural  antagonism  to  the  methods 
of  the  rival  and  the  enemy,  the  counter  development  of  an 
excessive  Hagiolatry,  Mariolatry,  and  Sacerdotalism. 

It  would  be  strange  enough  if  the  religious  fervor  which 
doomed  to  death  and  torment  so  many  tens  of  thousands 
of  Semites  in  Spain  should  be  itself  of  Semitic  suggestion. 
It  is  hardly  less  strange  that  the  Greek  Renaissance,  which 
revolutionized  the  Christian  world,  and  whose  anti-Semitic 
influence  to  the  present  day  is  nowhere  more  marked  than 


110  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

in  every  department  of  religious  thought,  should  by  the 
irony  of  fate  have  been  forestalled  by  a  writer,  at  once 
Spanish  and  Semitic;  and  when,  by  the  sixteenth  century, 
the  rest  of  modern  Europe  had  been  led  by  the  teaching  of 
Averroes  to  accept  the  philosophy  of  Aristotle,  Spain,  the 
earliest  home  of  Hellenism,  new  born  in  Europe,  had  al- 
ready turned  again  to  a  religious  Philistinism  or  Pharisee- 
ism  of  the  hardest  and  most  uncompromising  type,  Semitic 
in  its  thoroughness,  Greek  only  in  its  elaborate  accessories, 
and  Spanish  in  its  uncompromising  vigor. 

Thus  it  was  that  the  Arab  and  the  Jew,  parents,  in 
some  sense,  of  the  religious  spirit  of  Ximenez  and  of  Tor- 
quemada,  became  themselves  the  objects  of  persecution 
more  bitter  than  is  to  be  found  in  the  annals  of  any  other 
European  nation.  The  rigors  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition, 
and  the  policy  that  inspired  and  justified  it,  are  not  to  be 
fully  explained  by  the  rapacity  of  Ferdinand,  the  bigotry 
of  Isabella,  the  ambition  of  Ximenez,  or  the  cruelty  of  Tor- 
quemada.  They  were  in  a  manner  the  rebellion  or  outbreak 
of  the  old  Semitic  spirit  against  the  Semite,  the  ignorant 
jealousy  of  the  wayward  disciple  against  the  master  whose 
teaching  has  been  but  imperfectly  and  unintelligently  as- 
similated— perverted,  distorted,  and  depraved  by  the  human 
or  devilish  element  which  is  to  be  found  in  all  religions, 
and  which  seems  ever  striving  to  destroy  the  better,  and  to 
develop  the  worser  part  of  the  spiritual  nature  of  man. 

We  now  enter  upon  a  period  of  European  history  which 
is  but  feebly  characterized  by  the  term  interesting,  and 
which  has  been  too  accurately  chronicled  and  too  severely 
investigated  to  be  called  romantic;  when  a  well-founded 
jealousy,  or  fear  of  the  growing  power  of  France,  alone 


THEIR   CATHOLIC   MAJESTIES.  Ill 

supplies  the  key  to  the  ever-changing  foreign  policy  of  the 
sovereigns  of  Spain.  Genuine  State  papers  of  the  fifteenth 
century  are  by  no  means  numerous.  In  such  of  them,  how- 
ever, as  are  still  extant,  we  find  the  fear  expressed  over 
and  over  again  that  the  kings  of  France  would  render  them- 
selves "masters  of  the  world,"  would  "establish  a  universal 
empire,"  or  "subject  the  whole  of  Christendom  to  their  dic- 
tation." The  best  means  to  avert  such  a  danger  appeared 
to  contemporary  statesmen  to  be  the  foundation  of  another 
European  State  as  a  counterpoise.  Ferdinand  the  Catholic, 
ambitious,  diplomatic,  and  capable,  was  the  first  prince  who 
undertook  the  enterprise. 

Within  less  than  three  years  after  the  Inquisition  had 
been  established  at  Seville,  Louis  XI.  of  France,  the  old 
rival  and  colleague  of  John  II.  of  Aragon,  had  died  in 
Paris,  August  30,  1483.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  son 
Charles  VIII.,  a  young  prince  whose  ignorance  was  only 
equaled  by  his  vanity,  and  was  if  possible  exceeded  by  his 
presumption.  With  such  an  antagonist,  Ferdinand  of  Ara- 
gon was  well  fitted  to  deal,  with  advantage  to  himself  and 
to  Spain.  To  win  over  the  Duchess  of  Bourbon,  who  had 
virtually  succeeded  to  the  government  of  France  on  the 
death  of  Louis  XL,  and  to  marry  his  eldest  daughter  Isa- 
bella to  the  young  King  Charles  VIII.,  were  accordingly 
the  first  objects  of  his  negotiations.  But  in  spite  of  all  the 
flattery  lavished  on  the  duchess,  Ferdinand  did  not  succeed 
in  obtaining  the  crown  for  the  Infanta.  A  more  richly 
dowered  bride  was  destined  for  the  King  of  France,  to 
whom  the  acquisition  of  the  province  of  Brittany  was  of 
far  greater  importance  than  the  doubtful  friendship  of  Spain ; 
and  after  much  public  and  private  negotiation,  the  Spanish 


112  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

embassador  was  reluctantly  withdrawn  from  Paris  in  the 
summer  of  1487  (29th  of  July). 

Disappointed  in  his  dealing  with  the  court  of  France, 
the  ever- watchful  and  persistent  Ferdinand  turned  his  eyes 
to  England;  and  in  the  last  days  of  the  year  1487  an  em- 
bassador from  the  Spanish  sovereigns,  Roderigo  de  Puebla, 
doctor  of  canon  and  civil  law,  arrived  at  the  court  of  Lon- 
don. Henry  VII.,  who  greatly  desired  to  establish  a  closer 
alliance  with  Spain,  succeeded  in  nattering  the  new  envoy, 
and  rendering  him  almost  from  the  first  subservient  to 
his  personal  interests.  Yet  the  King  of  England  and  the 
Spanish  embassador  together  were  no  match  for  Ferdinand 
of  Aragon.  The  negotiations  between  the  sovereigns  were 
prolonged  for  two  years,  and  in  the  end  Henry  was  worsted 
at  every  point.  He  had  signed  a  treaty  of  offensive  alliance 
with  Spain  against  France,  with  which  power  he  wisely  de- 
sired to  maintain  friendly  relations,  and  he  had  been  pre- 
vailed upon  to  send  some  English  troops  into  Brittany  to 
co-operate  with  a  Spanish  contingent  which  never  arrived, 
in  the  expulsion  of  the  French  from  that  country.  He  had 
concluded  further  treaties  of  friendship  and  alliance  with 
the  King  of  the  Romans,  who  was  actually  encouraging 
Perkin  "Warbeck  to  assert  his  claim  to  the  crown  of  Eng- 
land, and  with  the  Archduke  Philip,  whom  he  personally 
and  independently  hated.  And  he  had  been  forced  to  con- 
tent himself  with  the  promise  of  a  very  modest  dowry  with 
the  Spanish  princess  who  was  affianced  to  his  son  Arthur, 
Prince  of  Wales. 

Relatively  too,  as  well  as  positively,  he  had  been  falsely 
borne  in  hand.  Maximilian,  who  had  been  no  less  ready 
than  Henry  with  his  promises  to  Ferdinand,  did  not  send 


THEIR    CATHOLIC    MAJESTIES.  113 

a  single  soldier  into  Brittany,  but  endeavored  to  overreach 
Henry,  Charles,  and  Ferdinand  by  a  hasty  marriage — by 
proxy — with  the  young  duchess,  without  the  consent  or 
knowledge  of  either  England  or  Spain.  Yet  this  diplo- 
matic victory  over  the  very  astute  Englishman  did  not  sat- 
isfy Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  who,  fearful  lest  they  should 
"become  the  victims  of  their  honesty"  if  they  permitted 
Maximilian  to  surpass  them  in  political  perfidy,  imme- 
diately renewed  secret  negotiations  with  France,  and  de- 
clared themselves  ready  to  abandon  the  king,  the  duchess, 
and  the  emperor.  Charles,  they  promised,  should  obtain 
what  he  wished,  without  risking  the  life  of  a  single  sol- 
dier, if  only  he  would  marry  a  Spanish  Infanta.  And  they 
offered  him,  not  Isabella,  their  eldest  born,  but  their  second 
daughter,  Joanna. 

Charles,  however,  had  other  views,  and  finding  no  co- 
hesion or  certainty  in  Ferdinand's  league  against  him, 
strengthened  his  cause  and  his  kingdom  by  marrying  the 
Duchess  Anne  of  Brittany  himself ,  and  uniting  her  heredi- 
tary dominions  forever  to  the  crown  of  France,  a  fair  stroke 
of  policy  for  a  foolish  sovereign  in  the  midst  of  crafty  and 
unscrupulous  adversaries.  (December  13,  1491.) 

Ferdinand  replied  by  calling  on  Henry  VII.  to  fulfill  his 
engagements  and  invade  France.  Henry  accordingly,  on 
the  1st  of  October,  1492,  landed  an  army  at  Calais,  and 
marched  on  Boulogne;  while  Ferdinand,  without  striking 
a  blow  either  for  Spain  or  for  England,  took  advantage  of 
the  English  expedition  to  extort  from  the  fears  and  folly 
of  Charles  VIII.  the  favorable  conditions  of  peace  and  alli- 
ance that  were  embodied  in  the  celebrated  Convention  which 
was  signed  at  Barcelona  on  the  19th  of  January,  1493.  By 


114  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

this  instrument  it  was  provided  that  each  of  the  high  con- 
tracting parties  should  mutually  aid  each  other  against  all 
enemies,  the  Vicar  of  Christ  alone  excepted,  that  the  Span- 
ish sovereigns  should  not  enter  into  an  alliance  with  any 
other  power,  to  the  prejudice  of  the  interests  of  France, 
and  finally,  that  the  coveted  provinces  of  Roussillon  and 
Cerdagne,  whose  recovery  had  long  been  one  of  the  chief 
objects  of  Ferdinand's  ambition,  should  be  immediately 
handed  over  to  Spain. 

The  services  of  England  being  no  longer  needed  by 
the  peninsular  sovereigns,  Ferdinand  abruptly  broke  off 
all  further  negotiations  with  Henry  VII. ;  the  signatures 
of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  to  the  treaty  which  had  already 
been  ratified  were  disposed  of  by  the  simple  but  effective 
expedient  of  cutting  them  out  of  the  parchment  with  a 
pair  of  scissors;  and  the  contract  of  marriage  between 
Arthur,  Prince  of  Wales,  and  the  Infanta  Catharine  hav- 
ing served  its  immediate  diplomatic  purpose  —  was  re- 
moved, for  the  time  being,*  from  the  sphere  of  practical 
politics. 

It  is  sufficiently  characteristic  of  both  parties,  that  in 
the  treaty  of  Barcelona,  between  Charles  and  Ferdinand, 
Naples,  the  true  objective  of  the  young  king  of  France, 
was  not  even  mentioned.  Ferdinand,  well  content  with 
the  immediate  advantages  obtained  by  the  treaty,  was 
by  no  means  imposed  upon  by  such  vain  reticence,  while 
Charles,  pluming  himself  upon  the  success  of  his  diplo- 
macy in  his  treaties  with  England,  with  France,  and  with 
the  empire,  looked  forward  to  establishing  himself  with- 

*  From  January,  1493,  till  October,  1497. 


THEIR    CATHOLIC   MAJESTIES.  115 

out  opposition  on  the  throne  of  Naples,  on  his  way  to 
assume  the  Imperial  purple  at  Constantinople. 

The  kingdom  of  Naples,  on  the  death  of  Alfonso  the 
Magnanimous  of  Aragon,  had  passed,  we  have  already 
seen,  to  his  illegitimate  son  Ferdinand,  who  proved  to  be 
a  tyrant  of  the  worst  Italian  type,  worthless,  contemptible 
and  uninteresting.  To  expel  this  hated  monarch,  for  whom 
not  one  of  his  Neapolitan  subjects  would  have  been  found 
to  strike  a  blow  in  anger,  seemed  but  a  chivalrous  and 
agreeable  pastime  to  the  vain  and  ignorant  youth  who  had 
succeeded  Louis  XI.  upon  the  throne  of  France.  His  more 
experienced  neighbors  indeed  smiled  with  some  satisfac- 
tion at  his  presumption.  Yet,  strange  to  say,  the  judg- 
ment of  the  vain  and  ignorant  youth  was  just;  and  the 
wise  men,  who  ridiculed  his  statesmanship,  and  scoffed 
at  his  military  ineptitude,  were  doomed  to  great  and  as- 
tounding disappointment. 

Before  the  French  preparations  for  the  invasion  of  Italy 
were  fairly  completed,  in  the  early  spring  of  1494,  Ferdi- 
nand of  Naples  died,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Alfonso 
I.,  the  cousin-german  of  Ferdinand  of  Aragon.  This 
change  of  rulers  altered  in  no  way  the  wild  schemes  of 
Charles  of  France,  nor,  although  the  new  king  of  Naples 
was  far  less  odious  than  his  father  had  been  in  his  own 
dominions,  did  it  make  any  important  change  in  the  con- 
dition of  Italian  politics.  By  the  month  of  June,  1494,  the 
French  preparations  were  so  far  advanced  that  Charles 
judged  it  opportune  to  acquaint  his  Spanish  allies  with 
his  designs  on  Naples,  and  to  solicit  their  active  co-opera- 
tion in  his  undertaking. 

That    Ferdinand    should,    under    any   possible    circum- 


116  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

stances,  have  been  found  to  spend  the  blood  and  treasure 
of  Spain  in  assisting  any  neighbor,  stranger,  or  ally,  in  any 
enterprise,  without  direct  advantage  to  himself,  was  a  sup- 
position entirely  extravagant.  But  that  he  should  assist  a 
feather-headed  Frenchman  to  dispossess  a  son  of  Aragon 
of  a  kingdom  from  which  his  own  ancestors  had  thrice 
driven  a  French  pretender,  and  where,  if  any  change  were 
to  be  made  in  the  sovereignty,  his  own  rights  of  succession 
were  far  superior  to  the  shadowy  claims  derived  from  the 
hated  Angevins :  this  was  a  thing  so  grotesquely  preposter- 
ous that  it  is  hard  to  suppose  that  even  Charles  of  France 
should  have  regarded  it  as  being  within  the  bounds  of  pos- 
sibility. Ferdinand  contented  himself  for  the  moment  with 
expressions  of  astonishment  and  offers  of  good  advice,  while 
Charles  pushed  forward  his  preparations  for  the  invasion  of 
Italy.  Don  Alfonso  de  Silva,  dispatched  by  the  court  of 
Spain  as  a  special  envoy,  came  up  with  the  French  army 
at  Yienne,  on  the  Rhone,  toward  the  end  of  June,  1494. 
But  he  was  instructed  rather  to  seek,  than  to  convey,  in- 
telligence of  any  sort;  nor  was  it  to  be  supposed  that  his 
grave  remonstrances  or  his  diplomatic  warnings  should  have 
had  much  effect  upon  the  movements  of  an  army  that  was 
already  on  the  march. 

In  August,  1494,  thirty  thousand  men,  hastily  equipped, 
yet  well  provided  with  the  new  and  dreadful  weapon  that 
was  then  first  spoken  of  as  a  cannon,  crossed  the  Alps,  and 
prepared  to  fight  their  way  to  Naples.  But  no  enemy  ap- 
peared to  oppose  their  progress.  The  various  States  of  Italy, 
jealous  of  one  another,  if  not  actually  at  war,  were  unable 
or  unwilling  to  combine  against  the  invader;  the  roads  were 
undefended;  the  troops  fled;  the  citizens  of  the  isolated  cities 


THEIR    CATHOLIC    MAJESTIES.  II? 

opened  their  gates,  one  after  the  other,  at  the  approach  of 
the  strange  and  foreign  invader.  The  French  army,  in  fine, 
after  a  leisurely  promenade  militaire  through  the  heart  of 
Italy,  marched  unopposed  into  Rome  on  the  last  day  of  the 
year  1494. 

Ferdinand  and  Isabella  had,  in  the  first  instance,  offered 
no  serious  opposition  to  the  French  enterprise,  which  ap- 
peared to  them  to  be  completely  impracticable ;  and  they 
had  awaited  with  diplomatic  equanimity  the  apparently 
inevitable  disaster,  which,  without  the  loss  of  a  single 
Spanish  soldier  or  the  expenditure  of  a  single  maravedi, 
would  at  once  have  served  all  the  purposes  of  Ferdinand, 
and  permitted  him  to  maintain  his  reputation  for  goodwill 
toward  Charles,  which  might  have  been  useful  in  future 
negotiations.  The  astonishing  success  of  the  French  inva- 
sion took  the  Spanish  sovereigns  completely  by  surprise, 
and  it  became  necessary  for  Ferdinand  to  adopt,  without 
haste,  but  with  prudent  promptitude,  a  new  policy  at  once 
toward  France  and  toward  the  various  parties  in  Italy. 

The  boldest  and  the  most  capable  of  all  the  sovereigns 
of  Italy,  in  these  trying  times,  was  the  Spanish  Pontiff, 
who  by  a  singular  fate  has  been  made,  as  it  were,  the 
whipping  boy  for  the  wickedness  of  nineteen  centuries  of 
popes  at  Rome,  and  who  is  known  to  every  schoolboy  and 
every  scribbler  as  the  infamous  Alexander  VI.  Roderic 
Lenzuoli,  or  Llangol,  was  the  son  of  a  wealthy  Valencian 
gentleman,  by  Juana,  a  sister  of  the  more  distinguished 
Alfonso  Borja,  bishop  of  his  native  city  of  Valencia. 

Born  at  Valencia  about  1431,  Roderic  gave  evidence 
from  his  earliest  years  of  a  remarkable  strength  of  char- 
acter, and  of  uncommon  intellectual  powers.  While  still 


118  HISTORY    OF  SPAIN. 

a  youth,  he  won  fame  and  fortune  as  an  advocate.  But 
his  impatient  nature  chafed  at  the  moderate  restraint  of  a 
lawyer's  gown ;  and  he  was  on  the  point  of  adopting  a  mili- 
tary career,  when  the  election  of  his  uncle  to  the  Supreme 
Pontificate  as  Calixtus  III.  in  1455  opened  for  him  the  way 
to  a  more  glorious  future.  At  the  instance  of  the  new  Pope, 
Roderic  adopted  his  mother's  name,  in  the  Italian  form  al- 
ready so  well  known  and  distinguished  at  the  court  of  Rome, 
and  taking  with  him  his  beautiful  mistress,  Rosa  Vanozza, 
whose  mother  he  had  formerly  seduced,  he  turned  his  back 
upon  his  native  Valencia,  and  sought  the  fortune  that  awaited 
him  at  the  capital  of  the  world. 

Unusually  handsome  in  his  person,  vigorous  hi  mind  and 
body,  masterful,  clever,  eloquent,  unscrupulous,  absolutely 
regardless  of  all  laws,  human  or  divine,  in  the  gratification 
of  his  passions  and  the  accomplishment  of  his  designs,  Rod- 
eric, the  Pope's  nephew,  was  a  man  made  for  success  in 
the  society  in  which  he  was  to  find  himself  at  Rome.  On 
his  arrival  at  the  Papal  court  hi  1456  he  was  received  with 
great  kindness  by  his  uncle,  and  was  soon  created  Arch- 
bishop of  Valencia,  Cardinal  of  St.  Nicholas  in  Carcere 
Tulliano,  and  Vice- Chancellor  of  the  Holy  Roman  Church. 
On  the  death  of  Calixtus,  in  1458,  the  Cardinal  Roderic 
Borgia  sank  into  comparative  insignificance;  and  during 
the  reigns  of  Pius  II.,  Paul  II.,  Sixtus  IV.  and  Innocent 
VIII.  we  hear  little  of  him  but  that  he  was  distinguished 
for  his  amours,  for  his  liberality  in  the  disposal  of  his  fort- 
une, and  for  his  attention  to  public  business.  Having  thus 
secured  the  goodwill  of  many  of  the  cardinals  and  the  affec- 
tion of  the  Roman  people,  he  had  no  difficulty,  on  the  death 
of  Innocent  VIII.  in  July,  1492,  in  making  a  bargain  with 


THEIR    CATHOLIC    MAJESTIES.  119 

a  majority  of  the  members  of  the  Sacred  College,  in  accord- 
ance with  which  he  was  elected  Pope,  and  took  the  title  of 
Alexander  VI.  on  the  26th  of  August,  1492. 

His  election  was  received  by  the  Roman  people  with  the 
utmost  satisfaction,  and  celebrated  with  all  possible  demon- 
strations of  joy.  His  transcendent  abilities  and  his  reckless 
methods  could  not  fail  to  render  him  obnoxious  to  his  com- 
panions and  his  rivals  in  Italy;  but  it  is  due  rather  to  his 
foreign  origin,  his  Valencian  independence  of  character,  and 
above  all  his  insolent  avoidance  of  hypocrisy  in  the  affairs 
of  his  private  life,  that  he  has  been  made  a  kind  of  ecclesi- 
astical and  Papal  scapegoat,  a  Churchman  upon  whose  enor- 
mous vices  Protestant  controversialists  are  never  tired  of 
dilating,  and  whose  private  wickedness  is  ingenuously  ad- 
mitted by  Catholic  apologists  as  valuable  for  the  purposes 
of  casuistic  illustration,  as  the  one  instance  of  a  divinely 
infallible  judge  whose  human  nature  yet  remained  mysteri- 
ously impure,  and  whose  personal  or  individual  actions  may 
be  admitted  to  have  been  objectively  blamable. 

To  measure  the  relative  depths  of  human  infamy  is  an 
impossible  as  well  as  an  ungrateful  task.  It  is  not  given 
to  mortals  to  know  the  secrets  of  the  heart.  But  bad  as 
Alexander  undoubtedly  was,  he  was  possibly  no  worse  than 
many  of  his  contemporaries  in  the  Consistory,  less  wicked 
than  some  of  his  predecessors  at  the  Vatican.  The  guilt 
of  greater  and  more  vigorous  natures  passes  for  superlative 
infamy  with  the  crowd ;  but  when  dispassionately  compared 
with  that  of  his  immediate  predecessors,  Sixtus  IV.  and  In- 
nocent VIII. ,  the  character  of  Alexander  VI.  is  in  almost 
every  respect  less  flagitious  and  more  admirable. 

So  unblushing  was  the  venality  of  the  Holy  See  in  the 

6 


120  HISTORY    OF   SPAIN. 

fourteenth  century  that  sacred  dialecticians  and  jurists  of 
high  authority  were  found  seriously  to  argue  that  the  Pope 
was  not  subjectively  capable  of  committing  the  offense  of 
Simony.  It  might  have  been  contended  with  equal  justice 
that  in  every  other  respect  he  was. at  once  above,  or  with- 
out, the  scope  of  the  entire  moral  law.  Nor  can  it  be  said 
that  the  fifteenth  century  brought  any  serious  amendment. 
From  the  death  of  Benedict  XL,  in  1303,  to  the  death 
of  Alexander  VI.,  in  1503,  the  night  was  dark  before  the 
inevitable  dawn ;  and  in  every  phase  of  human  depravity, 
in  every  development  of  human  turpitude,  in  arrogance, 
in  venality,  in  cruelty,  in  licentiousness,  medieval  Popes 
may  be  found  pre-eminent  among  contemporary  potentates. 
Thus,  if  the  wickedness  of  Alexander  was  extravagant, 
it  was  by  no  means  unparalleled,  even  among  the  Popes 
of  a  single  century.  His  cruelty  was  no  greater  than  that 
of  Urban  VI.,  or  of  Clement  VII. ,  or  of  John  XXII.  His 
immorality  was,  at  least,  more  human  than  that  of  Paul 
II.  and  of  Sixtus  IV.,  nor  were  his  amours  more  scandal- 
ous than  those  of  Innocent  VIII.  His  sacrilege  was  less 
dreadful  than  that  of  Sixtus  IV.  His  covetousness  could 
hardly  have  exceeded  that  of  Boniface  IX. ;  his  arrogance 
was  less  offensive  than  that  of  Boniface  VIII.  If  he  was 
unduly  subservient  to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  in  his  toler- 
ation of  the  enormities  of  Torquemada,  his  necessities  as 
an  Italian  sovereign  rendered  the  Spanish  alliance  a  mat- 
ter of  capital  importance.  As  a  civil  potentate  and  as  a 
politician,  he  was  not  only  wiser,  but  far  less  corrupt  than 
Sforza,  less  rapacious  than  Ferdinand,  more  constant  than 
Maximilian  of  Germany,  less  reckless  than  Charles  of 
France.  His  administrative  ability,  his  financial  enlight- 


THEIR    CATHOLIC   MAJESTIES.  121 

enment,  his  energy  as  regards  public  works,  were  no  less 
remarkable  than  his  personal  liberality,  his  affability,  and 
his  courage.  His  division  of  the  New  World  by  a  stroke 
of  the  pen  was  an  assumption  of  imperial  power  which 
was  at  least  justified  by  the  magnitude  of  its  success.  As 
he  sat  in  his  palace  on  the  Mons  Vaticanus,  he  was  the 
successor,  not  of  Caligula,  but  of  Tiberius — not  of  Com- 
modus,  but  of  Diocletian. 

Of  the  misfortunes  of  his  eldest  son,  created  by  Fer- 
dinand Duke  of  Gandia;  of  the  wickedness  of  his  second 
son,  the  fifteenth  century  Caesar,  who  succeeded  his  father 
as  Cardinal  Archbishop  of  Valencia;  of  the  profligacy  of 
his  daughter,  so  unhappily  named  Lucretia;  of  the  mar- 
riage of  his  youngest  son  Geoffrey  to  a  daughter  of  Al- 
fonso of  Naples,  as  a  part  of  the  treaty  of  alliance  between 
the  kingdom  of  the  Two  Sicilies  and  the  States  of  the 
Church,  in  1494;  of  the  alliance  between  Alexander  and 
Bajazet,  and  the  poisoning  of  the  Sultan's  brother,  Zem, 
after  thirteen  years'  captivity,  on  receipt  of  an  appropriate 
fee ;  of  the  elevation  of  a  facile  envoy  to  the  full  rank  of 
Cardinal,  to  please  the  Grand  Turk;  of  all  these  things 
nothing  need  be  said  in  this  place. 

We  are  more  immediately  concerned  to  know  that  on 
New  Year's  Day,  1495,  Pope  Alexander  VI.,  a  refugee, 
if  not  actually  a  prisoner,  in  the  Castle  of  St.  Angelo,  was 
fain  to  accept  the  terms  that  were  imposed  upon  him  by 
the  victorious  Frenchmen — masters  for  the  nonce  of  Italy, 
and  of  Rome. 

As  Charles  VIII.  was  marching  through  Italy,  and  was 
approaching,  all  unopposed,  the  sacred  city  of  Rome,  Alex- 
ander VI.,  anxious  at  all  hazards  to  obtain  the  assistance 


122  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

of  his  countrymen  in  the  hour  of  danger,  had  sent  an 
envoy  to  the  Spanish  court  representing  the  critical  state 
of  affairs  in  Italy,  assuring  the  king  and  queen  of  his 
constant  good  will,  in  spite  of  certain  disputes  as  to  the 
Papal  authority  in  Spain,  and  conveying  to  them,  with 
other  less  substantial  favors,  the  grant  of  the  Tercias,  or 
two-ninths  of  the  tithes  throughout  all  the  dominions  of 
Castile,  an  impost  which,  until  the  middle  of  the  present 
century,  formed  a  part  of  the  revenues  of  the  Spanish 
monarchy.  He  also  conceded  to  the  Spanish  crown  the 
right  of  dominion  over  the  whole  of  northern  Africa,  ex- 
cept Fez,  which  had  been  given  to  the  King  of  Portugal. 
A  projected  marriage  between  the  Duke  of  Calabria, 
eldest  son  of  the  King  of  Naples,  and  the  Infanta  Maria, 
daughter  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  served  to  give  the 
King  of  Spain  an  opportunity  for  negotiating  with  the 
Neapolitan  court;  and  Ferdinand  at  the  same  time  dis- 
patched the  celebrated  Garcilaso  de  la  Vega  as  his  em- 
bassador,  with  instructions  to  return  the  most  comforting 
assurances  to  the  Pope  at  Rome.  Yet  he  refrained  from 
making  any  definite  promises,  or  from  committing  himself 
to  any  definite  policy.  He  was  not  a  man  to  do  anything 
rashly;  and  he  preferred  to  await  the  course  of  events. 
Meanwhile,  having  sent  a  second  mission  from  Guadala- 
jara to  the  French  court  or  camp,  with  good  advice  for 
his  young  friend  and  ally  Charles  VIII.,  Ferdinand  betook 
himself  with  Isabella  to  Madrid,  where  the  Spanish  sov- 
ereigns devoted  themselves  to  the  preparation  and  equip- 
ment of  an  army  to  be  dispatched  at  an  opportune  moment 
to  any  part  of  Italy  where  subsequent  events  might  ren- 
der its  presence  necessary.  As,  for  various  reasons,  it  was 


THEIR   CATHOLIC   MAJESTIES.  123 

impossible  that  either  Ferdinand  or  Isabella  should  accom- 
pany their  army  abroad,  it  became  necessary  to  select  a 
general.  Among  all  the  skillful  leaders  and  gallant  knights 
who  had  signalized  themselves  in  the  wars  of  Granada,  it 
was  somewhat  difficult  to  decide  upon  a  commander.  But 
Isabella  had  never  lost  sight  of  Gonsalvo  de  Cordova,  in 
whom  she  discerned  traces  of  rare  military  talent;  and 
from  the  moment  the  Sicilian  expedition  was  planned  she 
determined  that  he  should  be  captain-general  of  the  royal 
forces.  The  greater  experience  and  apparently  superior 
claims  of  many  who  had  distinguished  themselves  in  bat- 
tle against  the  Moors  were  urged  by  Ferdinand  without 
avail.  The  command  was  given  to  Gonsalvo  de  Cordova. 
But  while  the  Spanish  fleet,  under  the  gallant  Count  of 
Trivento,  was  riding  at  anchor  at  Alicante,  and  Gonsalvo 
was  preparing  to  embark  his  army  on  board  the  ships  in 
that  harbor,  the  Spanish  sovereigns  dispatched  a  final  em- 
bassy to  Charles  in  Italy.  On  the  28th  of  January,  1495, 
as  the  king  was  leaving  Rome  on  his  way  toward  Naples, 
the  embassadors,  Juan  de  Albion  and  Antonio  de  Fonseca, 
arrived  at  the  Vatican.  They  found  Pope  Alexander 
smarting  under  the  humiliation  of  his  recent  treaty  with 
the  invader,  and  willing  to  assist  them  in  any  scheme  for 
his  discomfiture.  They  accordingly  followed  the  French 
army  with  all  speed,  overtook  it  within  a  few  miles  of 
Rome,  and  immediately  demanded  an  audience  of  Charles, 
even  before  his  troops  had  come  to  a  halt.  They  delivered 
up  to  him  their  credentials  as  he  was  riding  along,  and 
peremptorily  required  him  to  proceed  no  further  toward 
Naples.  The  haughty  tone  of  the  Spaniards,  as  may  be 
supposed,  excited  the  greatest  indignation  in  the  breast  of 


124  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

Charles  and  those  who  surrounded  him ;  high  words  arose 
on  both  sides,  and  finally  Fonseca,  giving  way  to  a  simu- 
lated transport  of  rage,  produced  a  copy  of  the  once  prized 
treaty  of  Barcelona,  tore  it  to  pieces,  and  threw  down  the 
fragments  at  Charles's  feet.  Paul  Jove  seems  to  think  that 
this  violent  and  unjustifiable  conduct  on  the  part  of  the 
Spanish  embassador  was  entirely  unpremeditated;  but  it 
is  certain  that  the  whole  scene  had  been  preconcerted  with 
either  Ferdinand  or  the  Pope.  Zurita  and  the  other  chron- 
iclers are  silent  on  the  point,  but  Peter  Martyr  in  one  of 
his  letters  affirms  that  the  mutilation  of  the  treaty  in 
Charles's  presence  was  included  in  the  secret  instructions 
given  to  Fonseca  by  Ferdinand. 

The  envoys,  as  was  expected,  were  promptly  ordered 
to  quit  the  French  camp;  and  retiring  with  all  speed  to 
Rome,  they  hastened  to  transmit  to  Spain  the  earliest  in- 
telligence of  the  success  of  their  mission.  They  were  also 
permitted  to  inform  their  sovereigns  of  the  new  honor  that 
had  been  conferred  upon  them  by  his  Holiness  Alexander 
VI.,  in  the  shape  of  the  grant  to  them  and  to  their  heirs 
forever  on  the  throne  of  Spain  of  the  title  of  "Catholic 
Kings." 

Meanwhile  Charles  VIII.  had  reached  Naples,  which 
had  at  once  opened  its  gates  to  the  invaders,  and  the 
Castel  Nuovo  and  the  Castel  d'Uovo  were  reduced  to 
submission  by  their  well  served  artillery.  King  Alfonso 
abdicated  the  crown,  and  Fabricio  Colonna  ravaged  the 
whole  kingdom  of  Naples  to  the  very  gates  of  Brindisi, 
dispersing  the  little  band  of  troops  that  had  been  collected 
by  Don  Caesar  of  Aragon,  illegitimate  brother  of  the  king ; 
while  Perron  dei  Baschi  and  Stuart;  D'Aubigny  overran 


THEIR    CATHOLIC    MAJESTIES.  125 

the  whole  country  almost  without  striking  a  blow;  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  Neapolitan  nobility  gave  their  adhesion 
to  the  French.  Nothing,  however,  could  be  more  impo- 
litic or  more  ungrateful  than  the  manner  in  which  Charles 
made  use  of  his  unexpectedly  acquired  authority,  and  it 
soon  became  evident  that  the  new  state  of  affairs  in  Naples 
would  not  be  of  very  long  duration.  The  moment  for  the 
judicious  interference  of  Ferdinand  of  Aragon  had  nort  been 
long  in  arriving. 

The  conduct  of  the  French  at  Naples  showed  pretty 
clearly  to  the  Italian  States  the  mistake  they  had  made 
in  permitting  Charles  to  enter  the  country,  and  they  were 
not  slow  to  accept  the  suggestions  of  the  Spanish  embassa- 
dor,  Don  Lorenzo  Suarez  de  Mendoza  y  Figueras,  that  they 
should  form  a  league  with  the  object  of  expelling  the 
French  from  Italy.  The  attitude  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans, 
who  had  remained  at  Asti,  toward  the  duchy  of  Milan, 
and  the  favorable  reception  accorded  by  Charles  to  Gio- 
vanni Trivulzio,  Cardinal  Fregosi,  and  Hybletto  dei  Fieschi, 
the  chiefs  of  the  banished  nobles,  and  the  sworn  enemies  of 
Ludivico  Sforza,  showed  that  prince  how  little  he  had  to 
expect  from  the  French  alliance;  and  the  conduct  of  Charles 
toward  the  Florentines,  and  indeed  toward  every  govern- 
ment whose  dominion  he  had  traversed  throughput  Italy, 
terrified  and  enraged  every  statesman  from  Milan  to  Syra- 
cuse. 

The  envoys  of  the  various  states  assembled  at  Venice. 
The  deliberations  in  the  council  chamber  were  brief  and 
decisive;  and  such  was  the  secrecy  with  which  the  nego- 
tiations were  conducted  that  the  astute  statesman  and  his- 
torian Philip  de  Commines,  who  then  represented  France 


126  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

at  the  court  of  Venice,  remained  ignorant  that  any  league 
or  convention  was  even  contemplated  by  the  various  pow- 
ers, until  he  was  informed  by  the  Doge  Agostino  Bar- 
berigo,  on  the  morning  of  the  1st  of  April,  1495,  that  the 
treaty  had  been  signed  on  the  previous  day.  The  avowed 
objects  of  this  Most  Holy  League,  which  was  entered  into 
by  Spain,  Austria,  Venice,  Milan  and  the  Court  of  Rome, 
were  the  recovery  of  Constantinople  from  the  Turks,  and 
the  protection  of  the  interests  of  the  Church ;  but  the  secret 
articles  of  the  treaty,  as  may  be  supposed,  went  much 
further,  and  provided  that  Ferdinand  should  employ  the 
Spanish  armament,  now  on  its  way  to  Sicily,  in  re-estab- 
lishing his  kinsman  on  the  throne  of  Naples ;  that  a  Vene- 
tian fleet  of  forty  galleys  should  attack  the  French  posi- 
tions on  the  Neapolitan  coasts,  that  the  Duke  of  Milan, 
the  original  summoner,  should  expel  the  French  from  Asti, 
and  blockade  the  passage  of  the  Alps,  so  as  to  prevent  the 
arrival  of  further  re-enforcements,  and  that  the  Emperor 
and  the  King  of  Spain  should  invade  France  on  their  re- 
spective frontiers,  while  the  expense  of  all  these  warlike 
operations  should  be  defrayed  by  subsidies  from  the  allies. 
The  Sultan  Bajazet  II.,  though  not  included  in  the  League, 
offered,  and  was  permitted,  to  assist  the  Venetians  both  by 
sea  and  land  against  the  French.  Thus  we  see  the  strange 
spectacle  of  the  Pope  and  the  Grand  Turk — the  Prince  of 
Christendom  and  the  Prince  of  Islam — united  against  the 
first  Christian  Power  of  Europe,  under  the  leadership  of 
The  Most  Christian  King. 

"Within  six  weeks  of  the  signature  of  this  important 
treaty,  Charles  VIII.  of  France  had  caused  himself  to  be 
crowned  at  Naples,  with  extraordinary  pomp,  not  only 


THEIR    CATHOLIC   MAJESTIES.  127 

as  king,  but  as  emperor;  and,  having  thus  gratified  his 
puerile  vanity,  he  abandoned  his  fantastic  empire,  and 
flying  from  the  dangers  that  threatened  him  in  Italy  he 
returned  to  Paris.  His  army  in  Naples  was  intrusted 
to  his  cousin,  Gilbert  de  Bourbon,  due  de  Montpensier, 
who  was  invested  with  the  title  of  viceroy,  and  instructed 
by  the  fugitive  king  to  maintain  his  position  in  the  country 
against  all  opponents. 

It  is  not  within  the  scope  of  this  history  to  give  any 
detailed  account  of  the  retreat  of  the  French  through 
Italy,  of  the  wonderful  passage  of  the  Apennines  at  Pon- 
tremoli,  and  the  still  more  wonderful  victory  of  Fornovo 
on  the  Taro,  when  the  French,  whose  entire  force  did  not 
exceed  ten  thousand  soldiers,  completely  routed  the  Italian 
army  of  thirty-five  thousand  men,  under  the  command  of 
Gonzago,  marquis  of  Mantua.  The  French  forces  that  re- 
mained in  southern  Italy  were  doomed  to  a  very  different 
fate.  The  command  of  the  French  army  had  been  in- 
trusted to  the  celebrated  Stuart  d'Aubigny,  a  knight  of 
Scottish  ancestry,  who  had  been  invested  by  Charles  VIII. 
with  the  dignity  of  Constable  of  France,  and  who  was 
accounted  one  of  the  most  capable  officers  in  Europe. 
But  a  greater  captain  than  d'Aubigny  was  already  on  his 
way  from  Castile,  who  was  in  a  single  campaign  to  re- 
store the  reputation  of  the  Spanish  infantry  to  the  proud 
position  which  they  had  once  occupied  in  the  armies  of 
ancient  Rome. 

Landing  at  Reggio  in  Calabria,  on  the  26th  of  May, 
1495,  with  a  force  of  all  arms  not  exceeding  five  thou- 
sand fighting  men,  Gonsalvo  de  Cordova  speedily  pos- 
sessed himself  of  that  important  base  of  operations,  es- 


126  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

tablished  himself  on  the  coast,  captured  several  inland 
towns,  was  victorious  in  many  skirmishes,  and  would 
soon  have  overrun  the  whole  of  Calabria,  had  not  the 
rashness  of  Ferdinand,  the  young  king  of  Naples,  who 
had  succeeded  but  a  few  months  before  to  the  crown 
which  Alfonso  had  abdicated  after  a  reign  of  less  than 
one  year,  led  to  a  disastrous  check  at  Seminara.  But 
Gonsalvo  rapidly  reorganized  his  army,  and  showing 
himself,  like  a  great  general,  no  less  admirable  in  repair- 
ing a  defeat  than  in  taking  advantage  of  a  victory,  he 
had  kept  d'Aubigny  so  completely  in  check  that  he  had 
been  unable  even  to  go  to  the  assistance  of  Montpensier, 
who  was  in  sore  straits  in  Naples.  The  citizens  soon 
opened  their  gates  to  their  lawful  sovereign,  and  Mont- 
pensier retreated  with  his  remaining  forces  to  Avella,  on 
the  banks  of  the  Lagni,  twenty  miles  northeast  of  the 
city  of  Naples,  whither  Gonsalvo  promptly  marched  to 
besiege  him.  Having  received  intelligence  in  the  course 
of  his  march — Gonsalvo  was  ever  well  informed — that  a 
strong  body  of  French,  with  some  Angevin  knights  and 
nobles,  were  on  their  way  to  effect  a  junction  with  d'Au- 
bigny, he  surprised  them  by  a  night  attack  in  the  forti- 
fied town  of  Lino,  where  he  captured  every  one  of  the 
Angevin  lords,  no  less  than  twenty  in  number,  and  im- 
mediately marching  off  to  Avella  with  his  spoils  and  pris- 
oners, and  an  immense  booty,  he  arrived  at  Ferdinand's 
camp  early  in  July,  just  thirteen  months  after  their  sep- 
aration on  the  disastrous  field  of  Seminara. 

On  hearing  of  Gonsalvo's  approach,  the  king  marched 
out  to  meet  him,  accompanied  by  Caesar  Borgia,  the  Papal 
Legate,  and  many  of  the  principal  Neapolitan  nobles  and 


THEIR    CATHOLIC    MAJESTIES.  129 

commanders,  who  greeted  the  victorious  Castilian  with 
the  proud  title  of  "The  Great  Captain,"  by  which  he  was 
already  known  to  some  of  his  contemporaries,  and  by 
which  he  has  ever  since  been  distinguished  by  posterity. 
At  Avella  he  found  a  re-enforcement  of  five  hundred 
Spanish  soldiers,  a  welcome  addition  to  his  small  force, 
which  amounted  on  his  arrival  to  only  two  thousand  one 
hundred  men,  of  whom  six  hundred  were  cavalry.  With 
such  an  army,  less  numerous  than  a  modern  German 
regiment,  did  Gonsalvo  overrun  Calabria,  out-general 
the  most  renowned  French  commanders,  and  defeat  their 
gallant  and  well-disciplined  forces,  emboldened  by  unin- 
terrupted success. 

The  siege  operations  at  Avella,  which  had  been  con- 
ducted without  energy  by  the  Neapolitans,  received  a 
new  impetus  from  the  presence  of  the  Spaniard,  who  dis- 
played such  skill  and  vigor  that  in  a  few  days  the 
French,  defeated  at  every  point,  were  glad  to  sue  for 
terms,  and  on  the  21st  of  July,  1496,  signed  a  capitula- 
tion which  virtually  put  an  end  to  the  war.  It  was  meet 
that  Gonsalvo  should  now  pay  a  visit  to  his  countryman 
at  the  Vatican,  and  having,  on  his  way  to  Rome,  deliv- 
ered the  town  of  Ostia  from  the  dictatorship  of  a  Basque 
adventurer  of  the  name  of  Guerri,  the  last  remaining 
hope  of  the  French  in  Italy,  he  was  received  by  Alex- 
ander VI.  with  such  splendor  that  his  entry  into  the  city 
is  said  to  have  resembled  rather  the  triumph  of  a  vic- 
torious general  into  ancient  Borne  than  the  visit  of  a 
modern  grandee. 

The  streets  were  lined  with  enthusiastic  crowds,  the 
windows  were  filled  with  admiring  spectators,  the  very 


130  HISTORY   OF  SPAIN. 

tops  of  the  houses  were  covered  with  lookers-on,  as  Gon- 
salvo  inarched  into  and  through  the  city,  preceded  by 
bands  of  music,  and  accompanied  by  his  victorious  army. 
The  entire  garrison  of  Ostia,  with  Manuel  Guerri  at  their 
head,  mounted  on  a  wretched  horse,  was  led  captive  to 
the  Vatican,  where  Roderic  Borgia,  in  the  full  splendor 
of  his  tiara  and  pontifical  robes,  and  surrounded  by  his 
cardinals,  sat  on  his  throne  awaiting  the  coming  of  his 
victorious  countryman.  When  Gonsalvo  reached  the  foot 
of  the  throne,  be  knelt  down  to  receive  the  pontifical 
benediction,  but  Alexander  raised  him  in  his  arms,  and 
presented  to  him  the  Golden  Rose,  the  highest  and  most 
distinguished  honor  that  a  layman  could  receive  from  the 
hands  of  the  sovereign  Pontiff. 

The  Great  Captain  now  returned  to  Naples,  into  which 
city  he  made  an  entry  scarcely  less  splendid  than  that 
into  Rome;  and  he  received  at  the  hands  of  Frederic 
more  substantial  honors  than  those  of  a  golden  rose,  in 
the  shape  of  the  dukedom  of  Santangelo,  with  a  fief  of 
two  towns  and  seven  dependent  villages  in  the  Abruzzo. 
From  Naples  the  new  duke  sailed  for  Sicily,  which  was 
then  in  a  state  of  open  insurrection,  in  consequence  of  the 
oppressive  rule  of  Giovanni  di  Nuccia,  the  Neapolitan 
viceroy.  By  the  intervention  of  Gonsalvo,  the  inhabi- 
tants were  satisfied  to  return  to  their  allegiance;  and  or- 
der was  restored,  without  the  shedding  of  a  single  drop 
of  blood.  After  some  further  services  to  the  state,  and 
to  the  cause  of  peace,  services  both  diplomatic  and  mili- 
tary, in  Naples,  in  Sicily  and  in  Calabria,  adding  in  every 
case  to  his  reputation  as  a  soldier  and  a  statesman,  and 
above  all  as  a  great  Castilian  gentleman,  Gonsalvo  re- 


THEIR   CATHOLIC   MAJESTIES.  131 

turned  to  his  native  Spain,  where  he  was  received  with 
the  applause  and  respect  that  is  not  always  granted  to 
great  men  by  their  own  sovereigns,  or  even  by  their  own 
countrymen. 

His  last  service  to  King  Frederic  and  his  people,  ere 
he  quitted  the  country,  was  no  less  honorable  than  wise. 
Frederic  was  engaged  in  the  siege  of  the  last  city  in  the 
kingdom  of  Naples  that  refused  to  recognize  the  dominion 
of  Aragon,  the  ancient  and  noble  city  of  Diano,  whose 
inhabitants,  vassals  of  that  Prince  of  Salerno  who  was 
attached  to  the  Angevin  cause,  refused  to  listen  to  the 
terms  which  were  proposed.  Gonsalvo  took  charge  of 
the  operations;  and  the  citizens,  convinced  of  the  hope- 
lessness of  holding  out  any  longer  against  so  vigorous  a 
commander,  surrendered  a  few  days  afterward  at  discre- 
tion. Gonsalvo,  whether  touched  at  their  bravery  and 
their  forlorn  condition,  or  merely  being  adverse  from  se- 
verity for  which  he  saw  no  reason,  obtained  from  the 
king  favorable  terms  for  the  garrison. 

The  expulsion  of  the  French  from  Naples  put  an  end, 
as  might  have  been  supposed,  to  The  Most  Holy  League. 
For  the  high  contracting  parties,  finding  themselves  se- 
cure from  immediate  danger,  conceived  themselves  no 
longer  bound  by  its  provisions.  Maximilian,  ever  penni- 
less and  generally  faithless,  had  made  no  attempt  to  en- 
gage in  any  operations  on  the  French  frontier,  nor  had 
any  one  of  the  allies  contributed  to  defray  the  heavy 
charges  incurred  by  the  Spanish  sovereigns  in  fulfilling 
their  part  of  the  agreement.  The  Venetians  were  rather 
occupied  in  securing  for  themselves  as  much  of  the  Nea- 
politan territory  as  they  could  acquire,  by  way  of  indemni- 


132  H1S1ORY  OF  SPAIN. 

fication  for  their  own  expenses.  The  Duke  of  Milan  had 
already  made  a  separate  treaty  with  Charles  VIII.  Each 
member  of  the  league,  in  fact,  after  the  first  alarm  had 
subsided,  had  shown  himself  ready  to  sacrifice  the  com- 
mon cause  to  his  own  private  advantage;  and  Ferdinand 
of  Aragon,  who  had  already  suspended  his  operations  on 
the  frontiers  of  Spain  in  October,  1496,  had  no  difficulty 
in  agreeing  to  a  further  truce  as  regarded  Naples  and 
Italy,  which  was  signed  on  the  5th  of  March,  1497. 

The  Spaniards  had  borne  the  entire  burden  of  the  late 
war.  They  had  been  virtually  abandoned  by  their  allies, 
and  their  unassisted  operations  had  led  to  the  deliverance 
of  NapleSj  to  the  safety  of  the  Italian  States,  and  the 
humiliation  and  the  defeat  of  the  French.  Their  imme- 
diate objects  having  been  thus  happily  accomplished,  Fer- 
dinand and  Isabella  proposed  to  Charles  VIII.,  without 
shame  or  hesitation,  that  the  French  and  Spaniards  should 
enter  into  an  immediate  treaty  of  alliance,  with  a  view  to 
drive  out  the  reigning  sovereign  of  Naples,  and  divide 
his  kingdom  between  themselves!  Meanwhile  the  Cas- 
tilian  envoy  to  the  Holy  See  endeavored  to  induce  Alex- 
ander VI.  to  withhold  the  investiture  of  his  kingdom 
from  Frederic,  the  new  sovereign  of  Naples,  on  the 
ground  that  he  was  friendly  to  the  Angevin  party  in 
Italy,  the  hereditary  enemies  of  Spain.  But  Alexander 
paid  no  heed  to  Garcilaso  de  la  Vega.  Charles  showed 
himself  not  only  willing  but  eager  to  treat  with  Fer- 
nando de  Estrada;  but  unwilling  at  once  to  abandon  all 
his  claims  to  Italian  sovereignty,  he  offered  to  cede  Na- 
varre to  Ferdinand,  and  keep  all  Naples  to  himself.  Pro- 
posals and  counter  proposals  thus  passed  between  France 


THEIR    CATHOLIC   MAJESTIES.  133 

and  Spain;  but  before  any  definite  programme  had  been 
agreed  to,  the  negotiations  were  cut  short  by  the  sudden 
death  of  the  French  monarch,  in  the  tennis  court  at  Am- 
boise,  on  the  eve  of  Easter,  1498. 

The  success  of  the  Spanish  arms  under  Gonsalvo  de 
Cordova  in  Italy  was  but  the  beginning  of  a  long  career 
of  triumph.  From  the  great  victory  at  Seminara,  in  1503, 
to  the  great  defeat  of  Rocroy,  in  1648,  the  Spanish  in- 
fantry remained  unconquered  in  Europe.  The  armies  of 
Castile  had  been,  indeed,  as  Prescott  has  it,  "cooped  up 
within  the  narrow  limits  of  the  Peninsula,  uninstructed 
and  taking  little  interest  in  the  concerns  of  the  rest  of 
Europe."  But  the  soldiers  and  sailors  of  Aragon  and 
Catalonia  had  fought  with  distinction,  not  only  in  Italy 
and  in  Sicily,  but  in  the  furthest  east  of  Europe,  for  two 
hundred  years  before  the  Great  Captain  of  the  United 
Kingdom  set  foot  on  the  shores  of  Calabria.  Yet  the 
victories  of  Gonsalvo  were  the  beginning  of  a  new  era, 
and  his  life  is  interesting,  not  only  as  that  of  a  brave  sol- 
dier and  an  accomplished  general,  who  flourished  at  a 
very  important  period  of  the  history  of  Europe;  but  it  is 
further  and  much  more  interesting  as  being  the  history 
of  a  man  who  united  in  himself  many  of  the  character- 
istics of  ancient  and  modern  civilization,  and  who  him- 
self appears  as  a  sort  of  middle  term  between  medieval 
and  modern  times. 

In  personal  valor,  in  knightly  courtesy,  in  gaudy  dis- 
play, he  was  of  his  own  time.  In  astute  generalship,  and 
in  still  more  astute  diplomacy,  an  envoy  not  an  adven- 
turer, the  servant  and  not  the  rival  of  kings,  he  belongs 
to  a  succeeding  age,  when  the  leader  of  a  victorious  army 


134  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

is  prouder  to  be  a  loyal  subject  than  a  rash  rebel.  The 
Castilian  lords  of  earlier  days  had  ever  been  brave  knights; 
their  followers  had  ever  been  hardy  and  ""intiring  combat- 
ants. But  Gonsalvo  was  not  only  a  tactician,  but  a  strat- 
egist. The  men  whom  he  commanded  were  soldiers. 
Newly  armed  and  admirably  disciplined,  the  regiments 
were  no  longer  the  followers  of  some  powerful  nobleman; 
they  formed  a  part  of  the  national  army  of  Spain.  The 
short  sword  of  their  Celtiberian  ancestors  was  once  more 
found  in  their  hands.  The  long  lances  of  the  Swiss  mer- 
cenaries were  adopted  with  conspicuous  success.  The  drill- 
sergeant  took  the  place  of  the  minstrel  hi  the  camp. 

Nor  was  this  revolution  in  the  art  of  war  confined  to 
the  conduct  of  the  Spanish  troops  in  the  field.  Before 
the  close  of  the  campaign  a  national  militia,  or  rather 
a  standing  army,  had  taken  the  place  of  the  brave  but 
irregular  levies  of  medieval  Spain.  A  royal  ordinance 
regulated  the  equipment  of  every  individual,  according 
to  his  property.  A  man's  arms  were  declared  free  from 
seizure  for  debt,  even  by  the  Crown,  and  smiths  and  other 
artificers  were  restricted,  under  severe  penalties,  from  work- 
ing up  weapons  of  war  into  articles  of  more  pacific  use. 
In  1426  a  census  was  taken  of  all  persons  capable  of  bear 
ing  arms;  and  by  an  ordinance  issued  at  Valladolid,  on 
February  22d  of  the  same  year,  it  was  provided  that  one 
out  of  every  twelve  inhabitants,  between  twenty  and  forty- 
five  years  of  age,  should  be  enlisted  for  the  service  of 
the  State,  whether  in  the  conduct  of  a  foreign  war  or 
the  suppression  of  domestic  disorder. 


CHAPTER    VII 
UNITED     SPAIN 

THE  DISCOVERY  OF  THE  NEW  WORLD  — VASCO  DA  GAMA  — 
THE  ROYAL  MARRIAGES  —  DREAMS  OF  EMPIRE— THE  - 
DEATH  OF  ISABELLA  — FERDINAND'S  END 

THE  reign  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  was  made  imme- 
morial through  Columbus  and  his  discovery.  The  man 
and  the  event  will,  in  subsequent  chapters,  be  considered 
at  length.  For  the  present  it  will  suffice  to  note  that  on 
his  return  from  the  New  World,  after  being  loaded  with 
honors,  a  question  arose  as  to  Isabella's  right  to  confer  the 
dignities  thus  bestowed — Portugal  claiming  the  territory  by 
reason  of  an  anterior  grant  from  the  Pope,  who,  in  common 
with  all  other  parties,  believed  it  to  be  part  of  India. 

The  question  was  referred  to  a  Junta  of  learned  men  of 
both  nations,  at  the  same  time  that  application  was  made 
to  the  reigning  Pope,  Alexander  VI.,  concerning  it.  The 
junta  decided  that  the  discoveries  of  Columbus  were  not  in- 
cluded in  the  Portuguese  grant;  and  his  Holiness  finally, 
as  he  conceived,  terminated  the  dispute  by  drawing  a  line 
across  the  Altantic,  from  pole  to  pole,  and  adjudging  all 
lands  discovered  on  the  east  of  that  line  to  Portugal,  all  on 
the  west  to  Castile. 

In  connection  with  this  it  should  be  noted  that  in  1497 
Manuel  of  Portugal  sent  Vasco  da  Gama  with  three  ships 
to  double  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  with  a  view  to  tapping 

(135) 


136  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

India.  In  the  month  of  November,  Gama  successfully 
doubled  the  formidable  Cape,  and  sailed  up  the  eastern 
coast  of  Africa,  as  far  as  Mozambique.  Here  he  found 
a  Moor  from  Fez,  who,  acting  as  interpreter  between 
him  and  the  natives,  facilitated  the  conclusion  of  a  treaty, 
in  virtue  of  which  the  King  of  Mozambique  was  to  furnish 
the  adventurous  navigators  with  pilots  well  acquainted  with 
the  course  to  India.  But,  while  they  were  taking  in  wood 
and  water,  a  quarrel  arose  with  the  natives,  to  whom  the 
fault  is  of  course  imputed.  The  pilots  made  their  escape, 
and  hostilities  ensued.  They  did  not  last  long;  the  terrors 
of  the  Portuguese  firearms  soon  compelling  the  Africans  to 
submit.  Another,  and,  as  the  king  assured  Gama,  a  better 
pilot  was  supplied,  and  on  the  1st  of  April,  1498,  he  sailed 
from  Mozambique.  The  new  pilot  proved  quite  as  ill-dis- 
posed as  his  predecessors,  endeavoring  to  betray  the  fleet 
into  the  power  of  his  countrymen  at  Mombaza ;  and  being 
alarmed  with  apprehensions  of  detection,  by  the  bustle  ap- 
parent in  the  crew  of  Gama's  ship,  which  had  accidentally 
grounded,  he  also  made  his  escape.  It  was  not  till  they 
reached  Melinda  that  they  found  really  friendly  natives. 
From  that  port  Gama  at  last  obtained  a  pilot  who  steered 
him  right  across  the  gulf  to  the  coast  of  Malabar. 

The  first  place  in  India  made  by  the  Portuguese  was 
Calecut.  Here  Gama  announced  himself  as  an  embassador 
sent  by  the  King  of  Portugal  to  negotiate  a  treaty  of  alli- 
ance with  the  sovereign,  the  zamorin  of  Calecut,  one  of  the 
most  powerful  princes  of  that  part  of  Hindustan,  to  estab- 
lish commercial  relations,  and  to  convert  the  natives  to 
Christianity.  How  far  this  last  object  of  his  mission  was 
agreeable  to  the  bigoted  Hindus,  or  the  equally  bigoted 


UNITED    SPAIN.  137 

Mohammedan  conquerors,  who  were  then  the  masters  of 
those  wealthy  regions,  we  are  not  distinctly  told  by  the 
Portuguese  historians ;  but  the  zamorin  appears  in  the  first 
instance  to  have  received  Gama  well,  and  been  upon  the 
whole  pleased  with  his  visit.  This  friendly  intercourse  was 
interrupted,  as  we  are  assured,  by  the  intrigues  of  the  Moors 
or  Arabs,  who,  being  in  possession  of  the  pepper  trade,  and 
indeed  of  the  whole  spice  trade,  were  jealous  of  interlopers. 
Quarrels  arose,  and  some  acts  of  violence  were  committed. 
They  ended,  however,  in  Gama's  gaining  the  advantage, 
and  friendship  was  restored  between  him  and  the  zamorin. 
He  reached  Portugal  in  July,  1499,  after  a  two  years' 
voyage,  and  was,  like  Columbus  in  Spain,  loaded  with 
honors. 

We  may  now  return  to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  This 
was  the  brightest  period  of  their  lives.  The  repulse  of 
Charles  VIII.,  and  the  victories  of  Gonsalvo,  added  fresh 
luster  to  their  reign.  Moreover,  through  measures  then 
undertaken,  the  unconverted  Moors  were  subdued,  and 
the  French  provinces  were  regained;  but,  over  and 
above  all,  a  new  world  had  been  discovered,  and  mar- 
riages, seemingly  the  most  fortunate,  were  concluded: 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella's  son  and  heir,  Don  John,  hav- 
ing married  the  daughter  of  the  Emperor  Maximilian; 
their  second  daughter  Joanna,  Philip,  the  son  and  heir 
of  that  monarch,  by  Mary  of  Burgundy,  and  already,  in 
right  of  his  deceased  mother,  sovereign  of  the  rich  and 
fertile  Netherlands;  the  third,  Katharine,  was  affianced  to 
Arthur,  Prince  of  Wales;  and  Manuel,  duke  of  Beja, 
having  succeeded  to  his  cousin  John  II.  of  Portugal,  de- 
spite all  intrigues  in  favor  of  the  illegitimate  Don  George, 


138  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

solicited  and  obtained  the  hand  of  the  eldest  Infanta,  the 
widow  of  the  Prince  of  Portugal. 

The  first  to  be  celebrated  of  all  these  royal  marriages 
was  that  of  the  Princess  Isabella  with  Alfonso,  the  heir  to 
the  crown  of  Portugal,  which  took  place  in  the  autumn  of 
the  year  1490,  and  which  was  apparently  calculated  to  lead 
to  the  happiest  results.  But  the  magnificent  wedding  fes- 
tivities at  Lisbon  were  scarce  concluded  when  the  bride- 
groom died,  and  the  widowed  princess  returned  disconsolate 
to  her  mother  (January,  1491). 

The  marriage  of  John,  prince  of  Asturias,  was  the  next, 
and  apparently  the  most  important  alliance  that  engaged 
the  attention  of  his  parents ;  and,  moved  by  many  consid- 
erations of  policy  and  prestige,  they  turned  their  thoughts 
to  far-away  Flanders.  Maximilian  of  Hapsburg,  the  titu- 
lar sovereign  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  had,  by  his  first 
wife,  Mary,  a  daughter  of  Charles  the  Bold,  and  in  her 
own  right  Duchess  of  Burgundy,  been  made  the  father  of 
two  children,  Philip,  born  in  1478,  and  Margaret,  in  1480. 
Their  mother,  the  beautiful  empress,  died  in  1482;  and 
Philip,  on  attaining  his  legal  majority  at  the  age  of  six- 
teen, assumed,  in  her  right,  the  government  of  the  Low 
Countries  in  1494.  It  was  with  this  youthful  sovereign, 
the  heir  to  yet  more  splendid  possessions,  that  the  Catholic 
sovereigns  desired  to  unite  their  younger  daughter  in  mar- 
riage, while  the  hand  of  his  sister  Margaret  was  sought  for 
the  Prince  of  Asturias.  The  advantages  to  Spain  of  such 
a  double  marriage  were  enormous. 

If  Prince  John  were  to  marry  the  Archduchess  Mar- 
garet, the  only  daughter  of  the  emperor,  he  would  inherit, 
in  the  event  of  the  death  of  the  Archduke  Philip  without 


UNITED    SPAIN.  139 

issue,  the  great  possessions  of  the  Hapsburgs,  Austria, 
Flanders,  and  Burgundy,  with  a  claim  to  the  empire  that 
had  eluded  his  great  ancestor,  Alfonso  X.  That  the  Arch- 
duke Philip  shobld  in  his  turn  espouse,  not  Isabella,  the 
eldest,  but  Joanna,  the  second  daughter  of  the  Catholic 
king,  would  prevent  Spain  from  passing  under  the  domin- 
ion of  Austria,  even  in  the  unlikely  event  of  the  death  of 
Prince  John  without  issue,  inasmuch  as  Isabella  of  Portu- 
gal would,  in  such  a  case,  inherit  the  Spanish  crown,  to 
the  prejudice  of  her  younger  sister  in  Flanders.  And 
finally,  if  all  the  young  wives  and  husbands  should  live 
to  a  reasonable  age,  and  should  leave  children  behind  them 
at  their  death,  one  grandson  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella 
would  wear  the  imperial  purple  as  lord  of  Central  Europe, 
and  another  would  sit  upon  the  throne  of  a  great  united 
Peninsular  kingdom  of  Castile,  Portugal,  and  Aragon. 

In  the  early  autumn  of  1496  (August  22),  a  splendid 
fleet  set  out  from  Laredo,  a  little  port  between  Bilbao  and 
Santander,  which  carried  Joanna  in  safety  to  her  expectant 
bridegroom.  The  archduke,  and  the  princess  for  whom  so 
sad  a  fate  was  reserved,  were  married  at  Lille  with  the 
usual  rejoicings;  and  the  Spanish  admiral,  charged  a  sec- 
ond time  with  a  precious  freight  of  marriageable  royalty, 
brought  back  the  Lady  Margaret  of  Hapsburg  with  all 
honor  to  Spanish  Santander,  early  in  March,  1497.  The 
marriage  of  the  heir  apparent  took  place  at  Burgos,  on  the 
3d  of  April ;  and  on  the  4th  of  October  of  the  same  year, 
the  gentle  and  accomplished  Prince  of  Asturias  had  passed 
away  from  Spain,  and  from  the  world. 

Yet,  once  again,  and  for  a  few  months,  there  lived  an 
heir  to  United  Spain,  whose  brief  existence  is  scarce  re- 


140  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

membered  in  history.  Isabella,  the  widowed  queen  of 
John  II.  of  Portugal,  had  been  persuaded  or  constrained 
by  her  parents  to  contract  a  second  marriage  with  her 
husband's  cousin  and  successor  Emmanuel;  but  the  price 
of  her  hand  was  the  price  of  blood.  For  it  was  stipulated 
that  the  Jews,  who,  by  the  liberality  of  the  late  king,  had 
been  permitted  to  find  a  home  in  his  dominions,  should  be 
driven  out  of  the  country  after  the  stern  Castilian  fashion 
;>f  1492,  are  the  widowed  Isabella  should  wed  her  cousin 
on  the  throne  of  Portugal.  Whether  the  princess  was  an 
apt  pupil,  or  merely  the  slave  of  her  mother  and  the  In- 
quisitor that  lurked  behind  the  throne,  we  cannot  say,  but 
the  Portuguese  lover  consented  to  the  odious  bargain.  The 
marriage  was  solemnized  at  Valencia  de  Alcantara,  in  the 
early  days  of  the  month  of  August,  1497,  and  the  stipu- 
lated Tribute  to  Bigotry  was  duly  paid.  But  before  ever 
the  bridal  party  had  left  the  town,  an  express  had  arrived 
with  the  news  of  the  mortal  illness  of  the  bride's  only 
brother;  and  in  little  more  than  a  year  the  young  queen 
herself,  in  the  23d  of  August,  1498,  expired  in  giving  birth 
to  a  son.  The  boy  received  the  name  of  Miguel,  and  lived 
for  nearly  two  years — the  heir  apparent  of  Portugal,  of 
Aragon,  and  of  Castile — until  he  too  was  involved  in  the 
general  destruction. 

But  some  time  before  the  death,  or  even  before  the 
birth  of  Miguel,  another  royal  marriage  had  been  con- 
cluded, whose  results  throughout  all  time  were  no  less 
remarkable  and  scarce  less  important  than  that  which 
handed  over  Spain  to  a  Flemish  emperor.  For  after  in- 
finite negotiations  and  more  than  one  rupture,  after  some 
ten  years'  huxtering  about  dowry,  and  a  dozen  changes  of 


UNITED    SPAIN.  141 

policy  on  the  part  of  the  various  sovereigns  interested  in 
the  alliance,  Katharine,  the  youngest  daughter  of  Ferdi- 
nand and  Isabella,  more  familiarly  known  as  Katharine 
of  Aragon,  had  been  married  to  Arthur,  Prince  of  Wales, 
and  the  first  act  had  been  concluded  of  that  strange  and 
fateful  drama  that  led  to  the  Reformation  in  England. 

The  dignified  sadness  of  her  story  as  Queen  Katharine 
— insulted,  divorced,  and  abandoned — the  unwilling  hero- 
ine of  the  great  tragic  drama  that  was  played  in  the  reign 
of  Henry  VIII.  of  England,  is  known  to  all  men,  who  ex- 
tend to  her,  with  one  consent,  their  pity  and  their  respect. 
But  those  only  who  know  something  of  the  seven  dreary 
and  disgraceful  years  that  she  spent  in  the  palace  of  her 
father-in-law,  before  she  was  permitted  to  know,  even  for 
a  season,  the  happiness  of  a  husband's  love,  or  to  enjoy 
the  great  position  of  Queen  of  England,  may  alone  under- 
stand the  fullness  of  the  measure  of  her  wretchedness. 

In  June,  1504,  Isabella,  who  had  for  some  time  been 
ailing,  and  who  seems  to  have  suffered  from  some  nerv- 
ous disease,  was  struck  down  suddenly  by  fever.  She 
had  lived  a  hard  life.  She  had  never  spared  herself,  or 
others.  The  unhappy  marriages  of  her  children  had  cast 
a  dark  shadow  over  her  life.  But  hers  was  not  the  nat- 
ure to  repine.  Diligent,  abstemious,  resolute,  she  had 
borne  pain  and  suffering,  and  she  was  not  afraid  to  face 
death.  Unable  at  length  to  rise  from  her  couch,  as  the 
autumn  drew  to  a  close,  she  continued  to  transact  her  ac- 
customed business,  gave  audience  to  embassadors,  chatted 
with  privileged  visitors,  and,  in  the  words  of  an  astonished 
stranger,  governed  the  world  from  her  bed. 

At  last,  on  the  26th  of  November,  1504,  as  the  church 


142  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

bells  of  Medina  del  Campo  were  ringing  out  the  hour  of 
noon,  the  spirit  of  Isabella  of  Castile  flitted  away  from 
this  world;  and  her  mortal  remains  were  conducted  by 
a  mournful  company  to  their  last  resting  place  under  the 
shadow  of  the  red  towers  of  Alhambra.  Through  storm 
and  tempest,  amid  earthquake  and  inundation,  across  moun- 
tain and  river,  the  affrighted  travelers  wended  their  way. 
For  the  sun  was  not  seen  by  day  nor  the  stars  by  night, 
during  three  long  and  weary  weeks,  as  if  the  very  forces 
of  nature  were  disturbed  at  the  death  of  a  giant  among 
the  princes  of  the  earth. 

The  character  of  Isabella  has  suffered  to  an  uncom- 
mon extent  from  an  ignorant  glorification  of  virtues  that 
she  was  far  from  possessing,  and  the  concealment  of  those 
transcendent  powers  that  made  her  not  only  one  of  the 
greatest  rulers  of  Spain,  but  one  of  the  greatest  women 
in  the  history  of  the  world.  Until  the  opening  of  the 
treasure-house  at  Simancas  displayed  her  correspondence 
to  the  world,  she  was  only  known  from  the  extravagant 
but  somewhat  colorless  panegyrics  of  contemporary  chron- 
iclers, who  recognized  at  least  that  she  was  a  royal  lady, 
compelling  their  gallant  admiration,  and  that  she  was 
immensely  superior  to  her  husband,  whom  it  was  neces- 
sary also  to  glorify,  as  the  last  Spanish  sovereign  of 
Spain. 

Isabella  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  characters  in 
history.  Not  only  was  she  the  most  masterful,  and,  from 
her  own  point  of  view,  by  far  the  most  successful  ruler 
that  ever  sat  upon  the  throne  of  Spain,  or  of  any  of  the 
kingdoms  of  the  Peninsula;  she  stands  in  the  front  rank 
of  the  great  sovereigns  of  Europe,  and  challenges  com- 


UNITED   SPAIN.     •  143 

parison  with  the  greatest  women  who  have  ever  held 
sway  in  the  world.  A  reformer  and  a  zealot,  an  auto- 
crat and  a  leader  of  men,  with  a  handsome  face  and  a 
gracious  manner,  scarce  concealing  the  iron  will  that  lay 
beneath,  Isabella  was  patient  in  adversity,  dignified  in 
prosperity,  at  all  times  quiet,  determined,  thorough. 

In  one  particular  she  stands  alone  among  the  great 
ruling  women,  the  conquerors  and  empresses  of  history. 
She  is  the  only  royal  lady,  save,  perhaps,  Maria  Theresa 
of  Hungary,  who  maintained  through  life  the  incongruous 
relations  of  a  masterful  sovereign  and  a  devoted  wife, 
and  shared  not  only  her  bed  but  her  throne  with  a  hus- 
band whom  she  respected — a  fellow-sovereign  whom  she 
neither  feared  nor  disregarded.  To  command  the  obe- 
dience of  a  proud  and  warlike  people  is  given  to  few  of 
the  great  men  of  history.  To  do  the  bidding  of  another 
with  vigor  and  with  discretion  is  a  task  that  has  been  but 
rarely  accomplished  by  a  heaven-born  minister.  But  to 
conceive  and  carry  out  great  designs,  with  one  hand  in 
the  grasp  of  even  the  most  loyal  of  companions,  is  a  tri- 
umphant combination  of  energy  with  discretion,  of  the 
finest  tact  with  the  most  indomitable  resolution,  that 
stamps  Isabella  of  Spain  as  a  being  more  vigorous  than 
the  greatest  men,  more  discreet  than  the  greatest  women 
of  history.  Semiramis,  Zenobia,  Boadicea,  Elizabeth  of 
England,  Catherine  of  Russia,  not  one  of  them  was  em- 
barrassed by  a  partner  on  the  throne.  The  partner  of 
Isabella  was  not  only  a  husband  but  a  king,  jealous,  rest- 
less, and  untrustworthy.  It  is  in  this  respect,  and  in  the 
immense  scope  of  her  political  action,  that  the  great  Queen 
of  Castile  is  comparable  with  the  bold  Empress-King  of 


144  HISTORY    OF  SPAIN. 

Hungary  rather  than  with  any  other  of  the  great  queens 
and  royal  ladies  of  history. 

The  husband  of  Zenobia  indeed  enjoyed  the  title  of 
Augustus;  but  it  was  only  after  his  assassination  that 
the  lady  earned  her  fame  as  a  ruler.  Catherine  caused 
her  imperial  consort  to  be  executed  as  a  preliminary  to 
her  vigorous  reign  in  Russia;  Boadicea  was  the  successor 
and  not  the  colleague  of  Prasutagus;  and  Semiramis, 
though  herself  somewhat  a  mythical  personage,  is  said 
to  have  slain  both  her  husband  and  his  rival,  in  her  as- 
sertion of  her  absolute  power.  Yet  Isabella  revolution- 
ized the  institutions  of  her  country,  religious,  political, 
military,  financial,  she  consolidated  her  dominions,  hu- 
miliated her  nobles,  cajoled  her  Commons,  defied  the  Pope, 
reformed  the  clergy;  she  burned  some  ten  thousand  of 
her  subjects;  she  deported  a  million  more;  and  of  the 
remnant  she  made  a  great  nation;  she  brooked  no  man's 
opposition,  in  a  reign  of  thirty  years,  and  she  died  in  the 
arms  of  the  king,  her  husband! 

Ferdinand  of  Aragon  was  no  hero.  But  he  was  a 
strong  man;  a  capable  ruler;  a  clever  if  a  treacherous 
diplomatist.  And  to  this  husband  and  consort  was  Isa- 
bella faithful  through  life,  not  merely  in  the  grosser  sense 
of  the  word,  to  which  Ferdinand  for  himself  paid  so  little 
heed;  but  in  every  way  and  walk  of  life.  She  supported 
him  in  his  policy;  she  assisted  him  in  his  intrigues;  she 
encouraged  him  in  his  ambitious  designs;  she  lied  for 
him,  whenever  prudence  required  it;  she  worked  for  him 
at  all  times,  as  she  worked  for  Spain.  For  his  policy,  his 
intrigues,  his  designs  were  all  her  own.  Whenever  the 
views  of  the  king  and  queen  were  for  a  moment  discord- 


UNITED   SPAIN.  145 

ant,  Isabella  prevailed,  without  apparent  conflict  of  author- 
ity. In  her  assumption  of  supremacy  in  the  marriage  con- 
tract; in  her  nomination  of  Gonsalvo  de  Cordova  to  the 
command  of  the  army;  in  her  choice  of  Ximenez  as  the 
Primate  of  Spain,  she  carried  her  point,  not  by  petulance 
or  even  by  argument,  but  by  sheer  force  of  character;  nor 
did  she  strain  for  one  moment,  even  in  these  manifesta- 
tions of  her  royal  supremacy,  the  friendly  and  even  affec- 
tionate relations  that  ever  subsisted  between  herself  and 
her  husband.  The  love  and  devotion  of  Isabella  was  a 
thing  of  which  the  greatest  of  men  might  have  well  been 
proud.  And  though  Ferdinand  the  Catholic  may  not 
fairly  be  counted  among  the  greatest,  he  was  a  man 
wise  enough  to  appreciate  the  merits  of  his  queen,  and 
to  accept  and  maintain  the  anomalous  position  in  which 
he  found  himself  as  her  consort. 

In  war  at  least  it  might  have  been  supposed  that  the 
queen  would  occupy  a  subordinate  position.  Yet  in  no 
department  of  State  did  Isabella  show  to  greater  advan- 
tage than  as  the  organizer  of  victorious  armies;  not  as  a 
batallador  after  the  fashion  of  her  distinguished  ancestors 
in  Castile  and  in  Aragon;  but  as  the  originator  of  an 
entirely  new  system  of  military  administration. 

Before  her  time,  in  Spain,  war  had  been  waged  by  the 
great  nobles  and  their  retainers  in  attendance  upon  the 
king.  There  was  no  such  thing  as  uniformity  of  action 
or  preparation,  no  central  organization  of  any  kind.  Each 
man  went  into  battle  to  fight  and  to  forage  as  opportunity 
offered.  Each  commander  vied  with  his  fellow  nobles  in 
deeds  of  bravery,  and  accorded  to  them  such  support  as  he 
chose.  The  sovereign  exercised  a  general  authority,  and 


146  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

assumed  the  active  command  of  the  united  multitude  of 
soldiers,  on  rare  and  important  occasions.  If  victory  fol- 
lowed, as  at  the  Navas  de  Tolosa,  the  soldiers  were  re- 
warded with  the  plunder,  and  took  possession  of  the  prop- 
erty of  the  enemy.  If  the  Christians  were  defeated,  the 
army  melted  away;  and  the  king  betook  himself  to  the 
nearest  shelter. 

But  Isabella  had  no  sooner  assumed  the  title  of  Queen 
of  Castile,  than  she  was  called  upon  to  maintain  her  pre- 
tensions in  the  field.  With  no  experience  but  that  of  a 
country  palace,  with  no  training  but  that  of  a  country 
cloister,  she  set  herself  to  work  to  organize  an  army.  On 
the  1st  of  May,  1474,  five  hundred  horsemen  represented 
the  entire  forces  of  the  fair  usurper.  By  the  19th  of  July 
she  had  collected  over  forty  thousand  men,  had  armed 
and  equipped  them  ready  for  the  field,  and  had  sent  them 
forward  under  the  command  of  Ferdinand  to  the  frontier. 
Although  she  was  at  the  time  in  delicate  health,  she  was 
constantly  in  the  saddle,  riding  long  distances  from  fort- 
ress to  fortress,  hurrying  up  recruits  all  day,  dictating 
letters  all  night,  giving  her  zealous  personal  attention  to 
every  detail  of  armory  and  equipment,  showing  from  the 
first  that  quiet  energy  and  that  natural  aptitude  for  com- 
mand thaj:  ever  so  constantly  distinguished  her.  That  her 
levies  were  not  victorious  in  no  way  daunted  her  deter- 
mination. A  second  army  was  raised  by  her,  within  a 
few  weeks  after  the  first  had  melted  away  under  Ferdi- 
nand; nor  would  she  listen  to  any  offers  of  negotiation, 
until  the  enemy  had  been  driven  out  of  Castile. 

In  the  conduct  of  the  war  of  Granada,  with  time  and 
money  at  her  command,  her  preparations  were  upon  a 


UNITED   SPAIN.  147 

very  different  scale.  The  most  skillful  artificers  were 
summoned  from  every  part  of  Europe  to  assist  in  the 
work  of  supplying  the  army  with  the  necessary  material 
of  war.  Artillery,  then  almost  unknown  to  the  military 
art,  was  manufactured  in  Spain  according  to  the  best  de- 
signs. Model  cannon  were  imported,  and  the  necessary 
ammunition  collected  from  abroad.  Sword-blades  were 
forged  at  home.  Not  only  a  commissariat,  but  a  field 
hospital — institutions  till  then  unheard  of  in  Spanish  war- 
fare— were  organized  and  maintained  under  the  personal 
supervision  of  the  queen.  The  presence  of  a  lady  on  the 
day  of  battle  would,  as  a  rule,  as  she  rightly  judged, 
have  been  rather  a  hinderance  than  a  help;  but  she  was 
very  far  from  being  a  mere  commissioner  of  supply.  A 
first-rate  horsewoman,  she  was  constantly  seen  riding 
about  the  camp,  encouraging,  inspecting,  directing;  and 
in  the  last  days  of  the  siege  of  Granada,  when  the  spirits 
of  the  troops  had  begun  to  flag,  she  appeared  daily  in 
complete  armor,  and  showed  herself  upon  more  than  one 
occasion  in  a  post  of  danger  on  the  field.  The  armies  with 
which  Gonsalvo  de  Cordoa  overran  Calabria,  and  anni- 
hilated the  French  at  Cerignola,  were  prepared  and  dis- 
patched by  Isabella;  and  if,  in  a  subsequent  campaign, 
the  Great  Captain  was  left  without  supplies  or  re-enforce- 
ments, it  was  that  the  queen  was  already  sickening  to  her 
death,  broken  down  and  worn  out  by  her  constant  and 
enormous  exertions. 

But  with  all  her  aptitude  for  military  organization, 
Isabella  had  no  love  for  war.  Her  first  campaign  was 
undertaken  to  make  good  her  pretensions  to  the  crown. 
The  extermination  of  the  Moslems  was  a  matter  of  relig- 


148  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

ious  feeling  and  patriotic  pride,  rather  than  an  object  of 
military  glory;  but  she  refused  to  pursue  her  conquest 
across  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar.  The  expeditions  to  Italy 
were  a  part  of  Ferdinand's  diplomacy,  though  the  honor 
of  victory  must  be  shared  between  Isabella  and  her  Great 
Captain.  But  the  queen's  ambition  lay  not  in  conquest 
abroad.  On  the  contrary,  as  soon  as  the  last  province  in 
Spain  had  been  delivered  from  the  foreign  yoke  of  the 
Moor,  she  turned  her  attention  to  the  peaceful  develop- 
ment of  the  kingdom;  and,  unlettered  warrior  as  she 
was,  she  bestowed  her  royal  patronage  upon  students 
and  studies,  rather  than  upon  the  knights  and  nobles 
who  had  fought  her  battles  before  Granada. 

The  old  foundations  of  the  Universities,  the  new  art  of 
printing,  scholarship,  music,  architecture  found  in  her  a 
generous  patron,  not  so  much  from  predilection  as  from 
policy.  Men  of  letters  and  men  of  learning  were  wel- 
comed at  her  court,  not  only  from  every  part  of  Spain, 
but  from  every  part  of  Europe.  For  herself  she  had  lit- 
tle appreciation  of  literature.  She  neither  knew  nor  cared 
what  influence  her  beloved  Inquisition  would  have  upon 
science.  But  as  long  as  the  queen  lived,  learning  was 
honored  in  Spain. 

In  this,  as  in  all  other  things,  her  judgment  of  men 
was  unerring.  The  queen  who  made  Gonsalvo  the  com- 
mander-in-chief  of  her  armies,  and  Ximenez  the  president 
of  her  council,  who  selected  Torquemada  as  her  grand  in- 
quisitor, and  Talavera  as  her  archbishop  of  Granada,  made 
no  mistake  when  she  invited  Peter  Martyr  to  instruct  her 
son  in  polite  letters,  and  commissioned  Lebrija  to  compose 
the  first  Castilian  Grammar  for  the  use  of  her  court. 


UNITED    SPAm  149 

Her  beauty  of  face  and  form  are  familiar.  Yet  vanity 
was  unknown  to  her  nature.  Simple  and  abstemious  in 
her  daily  life,  and  despising  pomp  for  its  own  sake,  no 
one  could  make  a  braver  show  on  fitting  occasions;  and 
the  richness  of  her  apparel,  the  glory  of  her  jewels,  and 
the  noble  dignity  of  her  presence,  have  been  celebrated  by 
subjects  and  strangers. 

At  the  death  of  Isabella,  Ferdinand,  in  accordance  with 
the  provisions  of  her  will,  caused  his  daughter,  Joanna, 
to  be  proclaimed  queen  and  himself  regent.  Philip,  arch- 
duke of  Austria,  the  husband  of  Joanna,  having  disputed 
the  rights  of  his  father-in-law  and  threatened  an  appeal 
to  arms,  the  latter  in  disgust,  with  the  view  of  again  sepa- 
rating the  crowns  of  Aragon  and  Castile,  entered  into  ne- 
gotiations with  Louis  XII.,  married  Gennaine  de  Foix, 
the  niece  of  Louis  (1505),  and  shortly  afterward  resigned 
the  regency  of  Castile.  On  the  death  of  Philip,  hi  1506, 
he  resumed  the  administration,  though  not  without  opposi- 
tion, and  retained  it  till  his  death.  In  1508  he  joined  the 
League  of  Cambray  for  the  partition  of  Venice,  and  thus 
without  any  trouble  became  master  of  five  important  Ne- 
apolitan cities.  In  the  following  year  (1509)  the  African 
expedition  of  Cardinal  Ximenez  was  undertaken,  which 
resulted  in  the  conquest  of  Oran.  In  1511  Ferdinand  joined 
Venice  and  Pope  Julius  II.  in  a  "holy  league"  for  the  ex- 
pulsion of  the  French  from  Italy.  This  gave  a  pretext  for 
invading  Navarre,  which  had  entered  into  alliance  with 
France,  and  been  laid  under  Papal  interdict  in  conse- 
quence. Aided  by  his  son-in-law  Henry  VIII.  of  Eng- 
land, who  sent  a  squadron  under  the  Marquis  of  Dorset 
to  co-operate  in  the  descent  on  Guienne,  Ferdinand  became 


150  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

master  of  Navarre  in  1513;  and  on  June  15,  1515,  by  a 
solemn  act  in  Cortes  held  at  Burgos,  he  incorporated  it 
with  the  kingdom  of  Castile. 

The  League  of  Cambray,  which  was  signed  on  the  10th 
of  December,  1508,  between  Louis  XII.,  the  Emperor  Maxi- 
milian, and  Ferdinand  of  Aragon,  at  the  instance  of  the 
warlike  Pope  Julius  II.,  was  nominally  directed  against 
the  Turks,  but  was  in  reality  a  coalition  for  the  destruc- 
tion and  partition  among  the  confiscators  of  the  rich  State 
of  Venice.  If  anything  was  wanted  to  make  this  league 
of  public  plunderers  more  corrupt  and  more  odious  than  it 
would  under  any  circumstances  have  been,  it  was  that  the 
kings  of  France  and  of  Aragon,  in  order  to  secure  the  ad- 
hesion of  the  Medicis,  sacrificed  their  faithful  allies,  the 
Pisans,  after  solemn  assurances  of  protection  and  support, 
and  actually  sold  that  ancient  city  to  the  Florentines,  their 
hereditary  enemies,  for  a  hundred  thousand  ducats. 

But  all  their  bad  faith  and  covetousness  was  displayed 
in  vain.  The  perfidious  leaguers  could  not  even  trust  one 
another;  and  the  success  of  the  French  arms  at  Agnadel, 
in  May,  1509,  so  seriously  alarmed  both  Julius  and  Ferdi- 
nand that  a  second  treaty  was  concluded  in  October,  1511, 
when  the  Pope  and  the  King  of  Aragon  invited  the  Vene- 
tian Republic,  for  whose  destruction  they  had  leagued  them- 
selves together  with  Louis  XII.  not  three  years  before,  to 
assist  them  in  driving  the  French  out  of  Italy. 

Of  the  consummate  skill  with  which  Ferdinand,  from 
the  middle  of  1509  to  the  end  of  1511,  played  off  his  allies 
and  rivals  one  against  the  other,  until  he  had  accomplished 
the  central  object  of  his  diplomacy  in  the  great  Confedera- 
tion against  Louis  XII.,  we  may  read  in  the  history  of 


UNITED   SPAIN.  151 

France  and  of  Italy,  of  England  and  of  Germany,  rather 
than  in  the  Chronicles  of  Aragon.  For  King  Ferdinand 
pulled  the  strings  that  moved  the  puppets,  while  he  re- 
mained wellnigh  hidden  himself.  But  by  the  end  of  1511 
the  showman  was  compelled  to  make  his  own  appearance 
upon  the  stage  of  European  warfare;  and  Ferdinand  was 
ever  less  successful  as  an  actor  than  as  an  impresario.  His 
policy  for  the  past  two  years  had  been  the  formation  of  a 
league  against  his  dearly-beloved  uncle-in-law,  Louis  XII. , 
by  the  aid  of  his  dearly-beloved  son-in-law,  Henry  VIII. 
Queen  Katharine,  who  had  already  played  the  part  of  em- 
bassador  to  her  English  father-in-law,  was  to  make  use  of 
her  influence  over  her  English  husband;  and  if  the  queen 
should  refuse  to  advise  King  Henry  to  go  to  war  with 
France,  her  confessor  was  to  tell  her  that  she  was  bound 
as  a  good  Christian  to  do  so. 

To  coerce  the  confessor,  Ferdinand  applied  to  the  Pope; 
and  to  control  the  Pope,  he  betrayed  to  him,  in  secret,  the 
whole  scheme  of  King  Louis  XII.  as  regarded  the  plunder 
of  the  States  of  the  Church.  It  is  easy  to  understand  what 
an  effect  the  communication  of  the  French  king's  plans  of 
spoliation  produced  upon  the  excitable  and  irascible  Julius. 
When  he  had  learned  that  he  was  not  only  to  be  robbed 
of  his  temporalities,  but  that  he  was  to  be  deposed  and 
imprisoned  in  case  he  should  prove  spiritually  intractable, 
he  hastened,  in  spite  of  his  age  and  his  infirmities,  to  trav- 
erse the  snow-covered  mountains,  that  he  might  meet  his 
enemy  in  the  field. 

The  King  of  Aragon  was  a  diplomatist  who  left  nothing 
to  chance.  He  trusted  no  man.  And  if  no  man  trusted 
him,  he  never  deceived  himself  by  supposing  that  any  one 


153  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

was  simple  enough  to  do  so.  No  detail,  however  trifling, 
was  neglected  by  him  in  his  negotiations.  No  contingency, 
however  remote,  was  left  out  of  sight  in  his  intrigues.  And 
however  little  we  may  respect  his  character,  which  was  per- 
haps not  much  worse  than  that  of  some  of  his  rivals,  we 
cannot  refuse  to  admire  his  transcendent  skill,  his  infinite 
perseverance,  his  forethought,  and  his  keen  appreciation 
of  every  shade  of  political  development.  A  little  honesty 
would  have  made  him  a  great  man,  a  little  generosity  would 
have  made  him  a  great  king.  His  policy,  moreover,  to- 
ward the  close  of  his  life,  is  at  least  worthy  of  an  admira- 
tion which  has  rarely  been  extended  to  it.  It  was  a  policy 
which  embraced  all  Europe  in  its  scope;  and  although  it 
had  no  direct  relation  to  Spain  or  the  Spanish  people,  it 
would  be  ill  to  conclude  even  a  brief  survey  of  the  history 
of  Spain  without  referring  to  the  imperial  dreams  of  the 
great  Spaniard,  first  of  modern  diplomatists,  and  of  his 
early  endeavors  to  solve  more  than  one  of  those  questions 
that  still  embarrass  the  foreign  policy  of  modern  States: 
the  establishment  of  a  kingdom  of  Italy;  the  alliance  be- 
tween Italy  and  Germany,  to  withstand  a  dreaded  power 
beyond  the  Danube  and  the  Carpathians;  the  entangle- 
ment of  England  in  a  central  European  league;  and  the 
treatment  of  the  Pope  of  Rome. 

The  Turks,  the  medieval  bugbear  in  the  East — for  the 
Middle  Ages  had  also  their  Eastern  Question — were  at  this 
time  rapidly  encroaching  upon  Christian  Europe;  and  it 
was  obviously  desirable  to  form  a  powerful  empire,  as  a 
bulwark  of  Christendom,  on  the  banks  of  the  Danube.  The 
opportunity  of  founding  a  great  empire  in  central  Europe 
actually  existed.  Ladislaus  II.,  king  of  Bohemia  and  of 


UNITED    SPAIN.  153 

Hungary,  had  only  one  son,  Louis,  who  was  of  so  delicate 
a  constitution  that  no  issue  could  be  expected  of  his  mar- 
riage. In  case  he  should  die  without  children,  his  sister, 
the  Princess  Anne,  was  the  heiress  of  both  his  kingdoms; 
and  if  her  father  could  be  persuaded  to  marry  her  to  the 
heir  of  the  Austrian  principalities,  Bohemia,  Austria,  and 
Hungary,  thus  united  with  the  heritage  of  the  Hapsburgs, 
would  form  by  no  means  a  contemptible  State,  which  might 
itself  be  but  the  nucleus  of  a  greater  and  more  ambitious 
empire. 

Naples,  which  had  so  lately  been  added  to  the  Spanish 
dominions,  was  still  exposed  to  the  attacks  of  the  French, 
who  claimed  one-half,  and  were  always  ready  to  appro- 
priate to  themselves  the  whole  of  the  kingdom.  Naples 
was  separated  from  France,  indeed,  by  a  considerable  ex- 
tent of  territory  in  Italy;  but  the  smaller  Italian  States 
were  too  weak  to  render  any  serious  resistance,  and  too 
fickle  to  be  counted  upon  as  friends  or  as  foes  by  any 
Spanish  sovereign.  The  best  way  to  render  Naples  secure 
was,  in  the  eyes  of  Ferdinand,  the  foundation  of  a  great 
kingdom  in  northern  Italy,  powerful  enough  to  prevent 
the  French  from  marching  their  armies  to  the  south.  The 
formation  of  such  a  kingdom  moreover  would  have  greatly 
facilitated  a  peaceful  division  of  the  great  Austro-Spanish 
inheritance  between  Prince  Charles  and  his  brother,  the 
Infante  Ferdinand. 

If  Charles  could  be  provided  not  only  with  the  kingdom 
of  Spain,  but  with  the  possessions  of  Maximilian  and  Ladis- 
laus  and  the  Princess  Anne,  and  the  empire  of  central 
Europe,  his  younger  brother  Ferdinand  might  content  him- 
self with  a  kingdom  to  be  made  up  of  all  the  States  of 


154  HISTORY   OF  SPAIN. 

Italy,  protected  against  the  encroachments  of  France  by 
Spanish  infantry  and  German  landsknechts,  and  ready  to 
drive  the  Turk  out  of  the  Mediterranean  in  support  of  the 
Christian  empire  on  the  Danube. 

The  kingdom  of  Italy,  thus  designed  for  his  younger 
grandson  by  the  far-seeing  Ferdinand  of  Aragon,  was  to 
consist  of  Genoa,  Pavia,  Milan,  and  the  Venetian  terri- 
tories on  the  mainland.  The  country  of  the  Tyrol,  being 
the  most  southern  of  the  Austrian  dominions,  could,  with- 
out sensibly  weakening  the  projected  empire,  be  separated 
from  it  and  added  to  the  new  kingdom  in  Italy.  Thus 
stretching  from  the  Mediterranean  to  the  Adriatic,  and 
from  the  Gulf  of  Spezia  to  the  Lake  of  Constance,  this  six- 
teenth century  kingdom  of  Italy,  with  the  whole  power  of 
the  Holy  Roman  Empire  to  support  it,  would  have  been  a 
splendid  endowment  for  a  younger  son  of  the  greatest  fam- 
ily on  earth.  There  was  also  a  reasonable  prospect  that  it 
might  afterward  be  still  further  enlarged  by  the  addition 
of  Naples,  and  the  smaller  Italian  States  would  easily  have 
fallen  a  prey  to  their  powerful  neighbor.  But  in  addition 
to  all  this,  Ferdinand  thought  that  he  would  render  a  not- 
able service  to  the  Catholic  religion  and  to  the  peace  of 
Europe  if  the  Church  were  thoroughly  reformed.  "What 
Rome  herself  has  lost  by  Ferdinand's  failure  it  is  not  given 
even  to  the  Infallible  to  know.  What  the  king's  reforms 
were  to  be,  we  can  only  shrewdly  surmise;  and  although 
they  would  most  assuredly  not  have  been  Protestant,  they 
would  with  equal  certainty  have  been  by  no  means  pala- 
table to  the  Vatican.  For  it  is  reasonably  probable  that  if 
either  Louis  XII.  or  Ferdinand  the  Catholic  had  been  per- 
mitted to  carry  out  their  designs,  the  Pope  of  Rome  would 


UNITED    SPAIN.  155 

have  found  himself  deprived  of  his  temporal  power,  and 
Garibaldi,  nay,  perchance  Luther,  would  have  been  fore- 
stalled. It  was  the  reforms  of  Ximenez  that  to  a  large 
extent  prevented  Luther  in  Spain.  The  reforms  of  Fer- 
dinand might  possibly  have  prevented  him  in  Italy. 

It  was  in  1516  that  Ferdinand  died.  Seven  years  pre- 
vious Queen  Germaine  had  been  delivered  of  a  son,  who 
received  from  his  parents  the  name  of  John.  But  the  Curse 
that  lay  upon  the  children  of  Ferdinand  was  not  yet  spent; 
and  the  rival  of  Charles  V.,  the  heir  of  Aragon,  Sardinia, 
Naples,  and  Sicily,  was  permitted  to  gladden  the  envious 
heart  of  his  father  by  but  a  few  hours  of  life.  As  years 
passed  on  there  seemed  little  chance  of  any  further  issue 
of  the  King  and  Queen  of  Aragon.  The  unity  of  Spain  at 
length  appeared  to  be  secure.  But  the  ambition  of  Ferdi- 
nand was  even  surpassed  by  his  jealousy.  Childless,  vin- 
dictive, and  obstinate,  he  chafed  at  the  ill-success  of  his 
personal  schemes;  and  rather  than  suffer  the  crown  of 
united  Spain  to  pass  over  to  his  daughter's  son  and  heir, 
he  sought,  at  the  hands  of  some  medical  impostor,  the 
powers  that  were  denied  to  his  old  age.  The  drug  that 
was  to  have  renewed  his  youth  destroyed  his  constitution, 
and  his  death  was  the  direct  result  of  one  of  the  least 
creditable  of  the  many  developments  of  his  jealousy,  his 
obstinacy,  and  his  selfishness. 

At  length  came  the  inevitable  end ;  and  at  the  wretched 
hamlet  of  Madrigalejo,  near  Guadalupe,  in  the  mountains 
of  Estremadura,  on  the  23d  of  January  of  the  new  year 
1516,  Ferdinand  died;  and  Spain  was  at  length  a  United 
Kingdom. 


CHAPTER    VIII 
MODERN     SPAIN 

THE  HOUSE  OF  HAPSBURG  —  PHILIP   II. —DEFEAT    OF  THE 

INVINCIBLE  ARMADA  — A  BOURBON  AMONG  THEM 

—  THE   PENINSULAR  WAR— ALFONSO  XIII 

WITH  the  death  of  Ferdinand  begins  the  period  of  unin- 
terrupted Hapsburg  rule  in  Spain,  which  lasted  for  nearly 
two  centuries.  In  the  course  of  this  period,  the  monarchy 
obtained  absolute  authority,  and  Spain,  after  rising  for  a 
time  to  be  the  foremost  State  hi  Europe,  sank  to  the  posi- 
tion of  a  second-rate  power,  from  which  it  has  never  since 
emerged.  Aragon  and  Castile  were  distinct  kingdoms,  and 
the  former  was  again  divided  into  the  three  provinces  of 
Aragon,  Catalonia,  and  Valencia,  each  of  which  had  its 
own  Cortes,  its  own  privileges,  and  the  most  warmly- 
cherished  traditions  of  independence.  The  foreign  pos- 
sessions of  the  two  crowns  were  a  source  of  weakness 
rather  than  of  strength.  France  stood  ready  at  the  ear- 
liest opportunity  to  contest  the  possession  of  Navarre  with 
Castile,  and  that  of  Naples  with  Aragon. 

The  difficulties  of  domestic  government  were  increased 
by  the  fact  that  the  prospective  ruler  was  a  youthful  for- 
eigner, who  had  never  visited  Spain,  and  who  was  com- 
pletely ignorant  of  the  customs  and  even  of  the  language 
of  the  country.  Charles — the  son  of  Philip,  archduke  of 
Austria,  and  of  Jane,  daughter  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella 
(156) 


MODERN   SPAIN.  167 

— had  been  born  and  educated  in  the  Netherlands,  of  which 
he  had  been  nominal  ruler  ever  since  the  death  of  his  father 
in  1506.  All  his  friends  and  advisers  were  Flemings,  who 
cared  nothing  for  Spanish  interests,  and  had  already  acquired 
an  evil  reputation  for  selfish  greed.  The  first  symptom  of 
discontent  in  Spain  was  excited  by  Charles's  demand  to  be 
recognized  as  king,  in  utter  disregard  of  his  mother.  In 
Aragon  the  demand  was  unhesitatingly  refused,  but  in 
Castile  the  vigorous  measures  of  the  famous  Cardinal 
Ximenez  secured  Charles's  proclamation.  The  regent, 
however,  had  great  difficulties  to  face.  The  nobles,  de- 
lighted to  be  rid  of  the  strong  government  of  Ferdinand, 
wished  to  utilize  the  opportunity  to  regain  the  privileges 
and  independence  they  had  lost.  In  this  crisis  the  loyal 
devotion  of  Ximenez  saved  the  monarchy.  Throwing  him- 
self upon  the  support  of  the  citizen  class,  he  organized  a 
militia  which  overawed  the  nobles  and  maintained  order. 
A  French  invasion  of  Navarre  was  repulsed,  and  to  avoid 
any  danger  from  the  discontent  of  the  inhabitants,  all  the 
fortresses  of  the  province,  with  the  single  exception  of  Pam- 
plona, were  dismantled.  These  distinguished  services  were 
rewarded  with  more  than  royal  ingratitude  by  Charles,  who 
came  to  Spain  in  1517,  and  who  allowed  the  aged  cardinal 
to  die  on  November  8th,  without  even  granting  him  an 
interview. 

Charles's  enormous  inheritance  was  increased  by  the 
successes  of  Cortes  in  Mexico  and  of  Pizarro  in  Peru,  by 
his  own  annexation  of  the  Milanese,  and  by  his  conquests 
in  northern  Africa. 

The  glory  of  Spain  was  then  at  its  apogee.  After  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  1558,  the  decline  set  in.  From 


158  HISTORY   OF  SPAIN. 

this  time  also  the  House  of  Hapsburg  became  divided  into 
its  contemporary  branches. 

Charles  was  succeeded  by  Philip  II.,  his  only  legitimate 
son.  The  administration  of  the  latter,  while  successful  at 
home,  was  a  failure  abroad.  During  his  reign  a  claim  to 
the  throne  of  Portugal  was  successfully  asserted,  and  the 
unity  of  the  Peninsula  was  completed.  Moreover,  colonial 
possessions  were  greatly  extended.  Yet  his  religious  intol- 
erance excited  the  revolt  of  the  Netherlands,  which  resulted 
in  a  loss  of  the  seven  northern  provinces.  His  effort  to  ob- 
tain a  preponderant  influence  over  France  was  dexterously 
foiled  by  the  succession  and  triumph  of  Henry  IV.  But 
his  great  and  historical  defeat  was  that  which  he  experi- 
enced with  the  Armada. 

Besides  the  Spanish  crown,  Philip  succeeded  to  the  king- 
dom of  Naples  and  Sicily,  the  Duchy  of  Milan,  Franche- 
Comte,  and  the  Netherlands.  In  Africa  he  possessed  Tunis, 
Oran,  the  Cape  Verd,  and  the  Canary  Islands;  and  in  Asia, 
the  Philippine  and  Sunda  Islands,  and  a  part  of  the  Moluc- 
cas. Beyond  the  Atlantic  he  was  lord  of  the  most  splendid 
portions  of  the  New  World.  The  empires  of  Peru  and  Mex- 
ico, New  Spain,  and  Chili,  with  their  abundant  mines  of 
the  precious  metals,  Hispaniola  and  Cuba,  and  many  other 
of  the  American  islands,  were  provinces  of  the  sovereign  of 
Spain. 

Philip  had  also  the  advantage  of  finding  himself  at  the 
head  of  a  large  standing  army  in  a  perfect  state  of  disci- 
pline and  equipment,  in  an  age  when,  except  some  few  in- 
significant corps,  standing  armies  were  unknown  to  Chris- 
tendom. The  renown  of  the  Spanish  troops  was  justly  high, 
and  the  infantry  in  particular  was  considered  the  best  in 


MODERN  SPAIN.  159 

the  world.  His  fleet,  also,  was  far  more  numerous,  and 
better  appointed,  than  that  of  any  other  European  power; 
and  both  his  soldiers  and  his  sailors  had  the  confidence  iii 
themselves  and  their  commanders  which  a  long  career  of 
successful  warfare  alone  can  create. 

One  nation  only  had  been  his  active,  his  persevering, 
and  his  successful  foe.  England  had  encouraged  his  re- 
volted subjects  in  Flanders'  against  him,  and  given  them 
the  aid  in  men  and  money  without  which  they  must  soon 
have  been  humbled  in  the  dust.  English  ships  had  plun- 
dered his  colonies;  had  defied  his  supremacy  in  the  New 
World,  as  well  as  the  Old;  they  had  inflicted  ignominious 
defeats  on  his  squadrons;  they  had  captured  his  cities,  and 
burned  his  arsenals  on  the  very  coasts  of  Spain.  The  En- 
glish had  made  Philip  himself  the  object  of  personal  insult. 
He  was  held  up  to  ridicule  in  their  stage  plays  and  masks, 
and  these  scoffs  at  the  man  had  (as  is  not  unusual  in  such 
cases)  excited  the  anger  of  the  absolute  king,  even  more 
vehemently  than  the  injuries  inflicted  on  his  power.  Per- 
sonal as  well  as  political  revenge  urged  him  to  attack  Eng- 
land. Were  she  once  subdued,  the  Dutch  must  submit; 
France  could  not  cope  with  him,  the  empire  would  not  op- 
pose him;  and  universal  dominion  seemed  sure  to  be  the 
result  of  the  conquest  of  that  malignant  island. 

For  some  time  the  destination  of  an  enormous  arma- 
ment which  he  had  long  been  preparing  was  not  publicly 
announced.  Only  Philip  himself,  the  Pope  Sixtus,  the 
Duke  of  Guise,  and  Philip's  favorite  minister,  Mendoza, 
at  first  knew  its  real  object.  Rumors  were  sedulously 
spread  that  it  was  designed  to  proceed  to  the  Indies  to 
realize  vast  projects  of  distant  conquest.  Sometimes  hints 


160  HISTORY  OF   SPAIN. 

were  dropped  by  Philip's  embassadors  in  foreign  courts 
that  their  master  had  resolved  on  a  decisive  effort  to  crush 
his  rebels  in  the  Low  Countries.  But  Elizabeth  and  her 
statesmen  could  not  view  the  gathering  of  such  a  storm 
without  feeling  the  probability  of  its  bursting  on  their  own 
shores.  As  early  as  the  spring  of  1587,  Elizabeth  sent  Sir 
Francis  Drake  to  cruise  off  the  Tagus.  Drake  sailed  into 
the  Bay  of  Cadiz  and  the  Lisbon  Roads,  and  burned  much 
shipping  and  military  stores,  causing  thereby  an  important 
delay  in  the  progress  of  the  Spanish  preparations.  Drake 
called  this  "Singeing  the  king  of  Spain's  beard."  Eliza- 
beth also  increased  her  succors  of  troops  to  the  Netherland- 
ers,  to  prevent  the  Prince  of  Parma  from  overwhelming 
them,  and  from  thence  being  at  full  leisure  to  employ  his 
army  against  her  dominions. 

Philip  had  an  ally  in  France  who  was  far  more  power- 
ful than  the  French  king.  This  was  the  Duke  of  Guise, 
the  chief  of  the  League,  and  the  idol  of  the  fanatic  par- 
tisans of  the  Romish  faith.  Philip  prevailed  on  Guise 
openly  to  take  up  arms  against  Henry  III.  (who  was  re- 
viled by  the  Leaguers  as  a  traitor  to  the  true  Church,  and 
a  secret  friend  to  the  Huguenots);  and  thus  prevent  the 
French  king  from  interfering  in  favor  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 
"With  this  object,  the  commander,  Juan  Iniguez  Moreo, 
was  dispatched  by  him  in  the  early  part  of  April  to  the 
Duke  of  Guise  at  Soissons.  He  met  with  complete  success. 
He  offered  the  Duke  of  Guise,  as  soon  as  he  took  the  field 
against  Henry  III.,  three  hundred  thousand  crowns,  six 
thousand  infantry,  and  twelve  hundred  pikemen,  on  behalf 
of  the  king,  his  master,  who  would,  in  addition,  withdraw 
his  embassador  from  the  court  of  France,  and  accredit  an 


MODERN  SPAIN.  161 

envoy  to  the  Catholic  party.  A  treaty  was  concluded  on 
these  conditions,  and  the  Duke  of  Guise  entered  Paris, 
where  he  was  expected  by  the  Leaguers,  and  whence  he 
expelled  Henry  III.  on  the  12th  of  May,  by  the  insurrec- 
tion of  the  barricades.  A  fortnight  after  this  insurrection, 
which  reduced  Henry  III.  to  impotence,  and,  to  use  the 
language  of  the  Prince  of  Parma,  did  not  even  'permit  him 
to  assist  the  Queen  of  England  with  his  tears,  as  he  needed 
them  all  to  weep  over  his  own  misfortunes,'  the  Spanish 
fleet  left  the  Tagus  and  sailed  toward  the  British  isles." 

Meanwhile  in  England,  from  the  sovereign  on  the  throne 
to  the  peasant  in  the  cottage,  all  hearts  and  hands  made 
ready  to  meet  the  imminent  deadly  peril.  A  camp  was 
formed  at  Tilbury;  and  there  Elizabeth  rode  through  the 
ranks,  encouraging  her  captains  and  her  soldiers  by  her 
presence  and  her  words. 

The  ships  of  the  royal  navy  at  this  time  amounted  to 
no  more  than  thirty-six;  but  the  most  serviceable  merchant 
vessels  were  collected  from  all  the  ports  of  the  country; 
and  the  citizens  of  London,  Bristol,  and  the  other  great 
seats  of  commerce,  showed  as  liberal  a  zeal  in  equipping 
and  manning  vessels  as  the  nobility  and  gentry  displayed 
in  mustering  forces  by  land.  The  seafaring  population  of 
the  coast,  of  every  rank  and  station,  was  animated  by  the 
same  ready  spirit;  and  the  whole  number  of  seamen  who 
came  forward  to  man  the  English  fleet  was  17,472.  The 
number  of  the  ships  that  were  collected  was  191 ;  and  the 
total  amount  of  their  tonnage  31,985.  There  was  one  ship 
in  the  fleet  (the  "Triumph")  of  1,100  tons,  one  of  1,000, 
one  of  900,  two  of  800  each,  three  of  600,  five  of  500,  five 
of  400,  six  of  300,  six  of  250,  twenty  of  200,  and  the  residue 


162  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

of  inferior  burden.  Application  was  made  to  the  Dutch 
for  assistance;  and,  as  Stowe  expresses  it,  "The  Holland- 
ers came  roundly  in,  with  threescore  sail,  brave  ships  of 
war,  fierce  and  full  of  spleen,  not  so  much  for  England's 
aid,  as  in  just  occasion  for  their  own  defense;  these  men 
foreseeing  the  greatness  of  the  danger  that  might  ensue,  if 
the  Spaniards  should  chance  to  win  the  day  and  get  the 
mastery  over  them;  in  due  regard  whereof  their  manly 
courage  was  inferior  to  none." 

The  equipment  of  the  Spanish  forces  consisted  of  130 
ships  (besides  caravels),  3,165  cannon,  8,050  sailors,  2,088 
galley-slaves,  18,973  soldiers,  1,382  noblemen,  gentlemen, 
and  attendants,  150  monks,  with  Martin  Alarco,  vicar  of 
the  Inquisition — the  whole  under  the  command  of  the  Duke 
of  Medina-Sidonia. 

"While  this  huge  armada  was  making  ready  in  the  south- 
ern ports  of  the  Spanish  dominions,  the  Prince  of  Parma, 
with  almost  incredible  toil  and  skill,  collected  a  squadron 
of  warships  at  Dunkirk,  and  his  flotilla  of  other  ships  and 
of  flat-bottomed  boats  for  the  transport  to  England  of  the 
picked  troops,  which  were  designed  to  be  the  main  instru- 
ments in  subduing  England.  Thousands  of  workmen  were 
employed,  night  and  day,  in  the  construction  of  these  ves- 
sels, in  the  ports  of  Flanders  and  Brabant.  One  hundred 
of  the  kind  called  hendes,  built  at  Antwerp,  Bruges,  and 
Ghent,  and  laden  with  provision  and  ammunition,  together 
with  sixty  flat-bottomed  boats,  each  capable  of  carrying 
thirty  horses,  were  brought,  by  means  of  canals  and  fosses, 
dug  expressly  for  the  purpose,  to  Nieuport  and  Dunkirk. 
One  hundred  smaller  vessels  were  equipped  at  the  former 
place,  and  thirty-two  at  Dunkirk,  provided  with  twenty 


MODERN  SPAIN.  163 

thousand  empty  barrels,  and  with  materials  for  making 
pontoons,  for  stopping  up  the  harbors,  and  raising  forts 
and  intrenchments.  The  army  which  these  vessels  were 
designed  to  convey  to  England  amounted  to  thirty  thou- 
sand strong,  besides  a  body  of  four  thousand  cavalry,  sta- 
tioned at  Courtroi,  composed  chiefly  of  the  ablest  veterans 
of  Europe;  invigorated  by  rest  (the  siege  of  Sluys  having 
been  the  only  enterprise  in  which  they  were  employed 
during  the  last  campaign),  and  excited  by  the  hopes  of 
plunder  and  the  expectation  of  certain  conquest. 

Philip  had  been  advised  by  the  deserter,  Sir  William 
Stanley,  not  to  attack  England  in  the  first  instance,  but 
first  to  effect  a  landing  and  secure  a  strong  position  in 
Ireland;  his  admiral,  Santa  Cruz,  had  recommended  him 
to  make  sure,  in  the  first  instance,  of  some  large  harbor 
on  the  coast  of  Holland  or  Zealand,  where  the  Armada, 
having  entered  the  Channel,  might  find  shelter  in  case  of 
storm,  and  whence  it  could  sail  without  difficulty  for  Eng- 
land; but  Philip  rejected  both  these  counsels,  and  directed 
that  England  itself  should  be  made  the  immediate  object 
of  attack;  and  on  the  20th  of  May  the  Armada  left  the 
Tagus,  in  the  pomp  and  pride  of  supposed  invincibility, 
and  amid  the  shouts  of  thousands,  who  believed  that 
England  was  already  conquered.  But  steering  to  the 
northward,  and  before  it  was  clear  of  the  coast  of  Spain, 
the  Armada  was  assailed  by  a  violent  storm,  and  driven 
back  with  considerable  damage  to  the  ports  of  Biscay  and 
Gallicia.  It  had,  however,  sustained  its  heaviest  loss  be- 
fore it  left  the  Tagus,  in  the  death  of  the  veteran  admiral 
Santa  Cruz,  who  had  been  destined  to  guide  it  against 
England. 


164  HISTORY    OF   SPAIN. 

This  experienced  sailor,  notwithstanding  his  diligence 
and  success,  had  been  unable  to  keep  pace  with  the  impa- 
tient ardor  of  his  master.  Philip  II.  had  reproached  him 
with  his  dilatoriness,  and  had  said  with  ungrateful  harsh- 
ness, "You  make  an  ill  return  for  all  my  kindness  to 
you."  These  words  cut  the  veteran's"  heart,  and  proved 
fatal  to  Santa  Cruz.  Overwhelmed  with  fatigue  and 
grief,  he  sickened  and  died.  Philip  II.  had  replaced  him 
by  Alonzo  Perez  de  Gusman,  duke  of  Medina  Sidonia, 
one  of  the  most  powerful  of  the  Spanish  grandees,  but 
wholly  unqualified  to  command  such  an  expedition.  He 
had,  however,  as  his  lieutenants,  two  seamen  of  proved 
skill  and  bravery,  Juan  de  Martinez  Recalde  of  Biscay, 
and  Miguel  Orquendo  of  Guipuzcoa. 

On  the  12th  of  July  the  Armada,  having  completely 
refitted,  sailed  again  for  the  Channel,  and  reached  it 
without  obstruction  or  observation  by  the  English. 

The  design  of  the  Spaniards  was,  that  the  Armada 
should  give  them,  at  least  for  a  time,  the  command  of 
the  sea,  and  that  it  should  join  the  squadron  which  Parma 
had  collected,  off  Calais.  Then,  escorted  by  an  over- 
powering naval  force,  Parma  and  his  army  were  to  em- 
bark in  their  flotilla,  and  cross  the  sea  to  England,  where 
they  were  to  be  landed,  together  with  the  troops  which 
the  Armada  brought  from  the  ports  of  Spain.  The  scheme 
was  not  dissimilar  to  one  formed  against  England  a  little 
more  than  two  centuries  afterward. 

The  orders  of  King  Philip  to  the  Duke  of  Medina 
Sidonia  were,  that  he  should,  on  entering  the  Channel, 
keep  near  the  French  coast,  and,  if  attacked  by  the  En- 
glish ships,  avoid  an  action,  and  steer  on  to  Calais  Eoads, 


MODERN  SPAIN.  165 

where  the  Prince  of  Parma's  squadron  was  to  join  him. 
The  hope  of  surprising  and  destroying  the  English  fleet 
in  Plymouth  led  the  Spanish  admiral  to  deviate  from 
these  orders,  and  to  stand  across  to  the  English  shore; 
but,  on  finding  that  Lord  Howard  was  coming  out  to 
meet  him,  he  resumed  the  original  plan,  and  determined 
to  bend  his  way  steadily  toward  Calais  and  Dunkirk, 
and  to  keep  merely  on  the  defensive  against  such  squad- 
rons of  the  English  as  might  come  up  with  him. 

It  was  on  Saturday,  the  20th  of  July,  that  Lord  Effing- 
ham  came  in  sight  of  his  formidable  adversaries.  The 
Armada  was  drawn  up  in  form  of  a  crescent,  which  from 
horn  to  horn  measured  some  seven  miles.  There  was  a 
southwest  wind;  and  before  it  the  vast  vessels  sailed 
slowly  on.  The  English  let  them  pass  by;  and  then, 
following  in  the  rear,  commenced  an  attack  on  them. 
A  running  fight  now  took  place,  in  which  some  of  the 
best  ships  of  the  Spaniards  were  captured;  many  more 
received  heavy  damage;  while  the  English  vessels,  which 
took  care  not  to  close  with  their  huge  antagonists,  but 
availed  themselves  of  their  superior  celerity  in  tacking 
and  maneuvering,  suffered  little  comparative  loss. 

The  Spanish  admiral  showed  great  judgment  and  firm- 
ness in  following  the  line  of  conduct  that  had  been  traced 
out  for  him;  and  on  the  27th  of  July  he  brought  his  fleet 
unbroken,  though  sorely  distressed,  to  anchor  in  Calais 
Roads.  The  Armada  lay  off  Calais,  with  its  largest  ships 
ranged  outside,  "like  strong  castles  fearing  no  assault; 
the  lesser  placed  in  the  middle  ward."  The  English  ad- 
miral could  not  attack  them  in  their  position  without  great 
disadvantage,  but  on  the  night  of  the  29th  he  sent  eight 


166  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

fire-ships  among  them,  with  almost  equal  effect  to  that 
of  the  fire-ships  which  the  Greeks  so  often  employed 
against  the  Turkish  fleets  hi  their  war  of  independence. 
The  Spaniards  cut  their  cables  and  put  to  sea  in  confu- 
sion. One  of  the  largest  galeasses  ran  foul  of  another 
vessel  and  was  stranded.  The  rest  of  the  fleet  was  scat- 
tered about  on  the  Flemish  coast,  and  when  the  morning 
broke,  it  was  with  difficulty  and  delay  that  they  obeyed 
their  admiral's  signal  to  range  themselves  round  him  near 
Gravelines.  Now  was  the  golden  opportunity  for  the  En- 
glish to  assail  them,  and  prevent  them  from  ever  letting 
loose  Parma's  flotilla  against  England;  and  nobly  was 
that  opportunity  used.  Drake  and  Fenner  were  the  first 
English  captains  who  attacked  the  unwieldy  leviathans: 
then  came  Fenton,  Southwell,  Burton,  Cross,  Raynor, 
and  then  the  lord-admiral,  with  Lord  Thomas  Howard 
and  Lord  Sheffield.  The  Spaniards  only  thought  of  form- 
ing and  keeping  close  together,  and  were  driven  by  the 
English  past  Dunkirk,  and  far  away  from  the  Prince  of 
Parma,  who,  in  watching  their  defeat  from  the  coast, 
must,  as  Drake  expressed  it,  have  chafed  like  a  bear 
robbed  of  her  whelps.  This  was  indeed  the  last  and  the 
decisive  battle  between  the  two  fleets. 

Many  of  the  largest  Spanish  ships  were  sunk  or  cap- 
tured in  the  action  of  this  day.  And  at  length  the  Span- 
ish admiral,  despairing  of  success,  fled  northward  with 
a  southerly  wind,  in  the  hope  of  rounding  Scotland,  and 
so  returning  to  Spain  without  a  further  encounter  with 
the  English  fleet.  Lord  Effingham  left  a  squadron  to 
continue  the  blockade  of  the  Prince  of  Parma's  arma- 
ment; but  that  wise  general  soon  withdrew  his  troops  to 


MODERN  SPAIN.  16? 

more  promising  fields  of  action.  Meanwhile  the  lord- 
admiral  himself  and  Drake  chased  the  vincible  Armada, 
as  it  was  now  termed,  for  some  distance  northward;  and 
then,  when  it  seemed  to  bend  away  from  the  Scotch  coast 
toward  Norway,  it  was  thought  best,  in  the  words  of 
Drake,  "to  leave  them  to  those  boisterous  and  uncouth 
northern  seas." 

The  sufferings  and  losses  which  the  unhappy  Span- 
iards sustained  in  their  flight  round  Scotland  and  Ireland 
are  well  known.  Of  their  whole  Armada  only  fifty-three 
shattered  vessels  brought  back  their  beaten  and  wasted 
crews  to  the  Spanish  coast  which  they  had  quitted  in 
such  pageantry  and  pride. 

At  the  death  of  Philip,  which  occurred  on  September 
13,  1598,  he  left  to  his  son  and  successor,  Philip  III.,  an 
empire  nominally  undiminished,  but  unwieldy  and  inter- 
nally exhausted.  Resources  had  been  squandered.  The 
attention  of  the  masses  had  been  turned  from  industry 
to  war.  The  soldiery  once  regarded  as  invincible  had 
lost  their  prestige  in  the  Netherland  swamps.  Enormous 
taxes,  from  which  nobles  and  clergy  were  exempt,  were 
multiplied  on  the  people.  That  being  insufficient,  Philip 
III.  proved  his  orthodoxy  by  completing  the  work.  In 
1609  the  Moors,  or  Moriscoes  as  they  were  called,  were 
ordered  to  quit  the  Peninsula  within  three  days,  and  the 
penalty  of  death  was  decreed  against  all  who  failed  to 
obey,  and  against  any  Christians  who  should  shelter  the 
recalcitrants.  The  edict  was  obeyed,  but  it  was  the  ruin 
of  Spain.  The  Moriscoes  were  the  backbone  of  the  in- 
dustrial population,  not  only  in  trade  and  manufactures, 
but  also  in  agriculture.  The  haughty  and  indolent  Span- 


168  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN, 

iards  had  willingly  left  what  they  considered  degrading 
employments  to  their  inferiors.  The  Moors  had  intro- 
duced into  Spain  the  cultivation  of  sugar,  cotton,  rice 
and  silk.  They  had  established  a  system  of  irrigation 
which  had  given  fertility  to  the  soil.  The  province  of 
Valencia  in  their  hands  had  become  a  model  of  agri- 
culture to  the  rest  of  Europe.  In  manufactures  and  com- 
merce they  had  shown  equal  superiority  to  the  Christian 
inhabitants,  and  many  of  the  products  of  Spam  were 
eagerly  sought  for  by  other  countries.  All  these  advan- 
tages were  sacrificed  to  an  insane  desire  for  religious 
unity. 

The  resources  of  Spain,  already  exhausted,  never  re- 
covered from  this  terrible  blow.  Philip  III.  died  in  March, 
1621.  His  reign  had  not  been  glorious  or  advantageous 
to  Spain,  but  it  contrasts  favorably  with  those  of  his  suc- 
cessors. Spanish  literature  and  art,  which  had  received  a 
great  impulse  from  the  intercourse  with  foreign  countries 
under  previous  rulers,  reached  their  zenith  during  his  life- 
time. Three  writers  have  obtained  European  fame — Cer- 
vantes, who  produced  the  immortal  "Don  Quixote"  be- 
tween 1605  and  1613,  and  two  of  the  most  fertile  of 
romantic  dramatists,  Lope  de  Vega  and  Calderon.  In 
the  domain  of  art  Spain  produced  two  of  the  greatest 
masters  of  the  seventeenth  century,  Velasquez  and 
Murillo. 

Philip  II.  was  succeeded  by  Philip  III.  After  him 
came  Philip  IV.  and  then  Charles  II.  Of  these  mon- 
archs  Mignet  said:  "Philip  II.  was  merely  a  king.  Philip 
III.  and  Philip  IV.  were  not  kings,  and  Charles  II.  was 
not  even  a  man."  The  death  of  the  latter  precipitated 


MODERN   SPAIN.  169 

the  War  of  the  Succession,  the  military  operations  of 
which  were  rendered  famous  by  the  military  exploits 
of  Eugene  and  Marlborough.  But  this  is  not  the  place 
to  recite  them.  The  chief  scenes  of  hostilities  were  the 
Netherlands,  Germany  and  Italy,  and  their  narration 
belongs  more  properly  to  the  histories  of  these  lands. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  by  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht  war  was 
concluded  in  1711,  and  Philip  V.,  a  Bourbon,  second 
grandson  of  Louis  XIV.,  was,  in  accordance  with  the 
will  of  Charles  II.,  acknowledged  King  of  Spain.  By 
the  same  treaty  England  gained  Gibraltar,  while  the 
Spanish  Netherlands,  Milan,  Naples  and  Sardinia  were 
ceded  to  Austria. 

With  the  accession  of  a  Bourbon,  Spain  entered  into  a 
new  period  of  history,  during  which  it  once  more  played 
a  part  in  the  politics  of  Europe,  as  also  in  its  wars; 
those,  for  instance,  of  the  Polish  and  Austrian  successions 
— the  country  meanwhile  being  additionally  embroiled  with 
England. 

Philip  V.  was  succeeded  by  Ferdinand  VL,  and  the 
latter  by  Charles  III.,  whose  death,  together  with  the 
accession  of  Charles  IV.,  were  contemporary  with  the 
French  Revolution.  The  execution  of  Louis  XVI,  made 
a  profound  impression  on  a  country  where  loyalty  vras  a 
superstition.  Charles  IV.  was  roused  to  demand  ven- 
geance for  the  insult  to  his  family.  Godoy,  the  Prime 
Minister,  could  but  follow  the  national  impulse;  and 
Spain  became  a  member  of  the  first  coalition  against 
France.  But  the  two  campaigns  which  ensued  provoked 
the  contempt  of  Europe.  They  form  a  catalogue  of  de- 
feats. Under  the  circumstances  it  is  no  wonder  that 


170  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

Spain  followed  the  example  of  Prussia  and  concluded  a 
treaty  of  peace. 

The  next  event  of  importance  was  Napoleon's  famous 
coup  de  main — the  seizure  of  the  Spanish  royal  family 
at  Bayonne — the  jugglery  which  he  performed  with  the 
crown,  its  transference  by  him  from  Ferdinand  VII. 
(son  of  Charles  IV.)  to  Joseph  Bonaparte,  and  the  revolt 
of  the  South  American  colonies  which  that  act  produced. 

Then  came  the  restoration-  of  Spanish  independence 
through  England's  aid;  Wellington's  famous  campaign; 
the  battles  of  Ciudad  Rodrigo  and  Badajos;  the  entry 
into  Madrid;  the  retreat  of  Joseph  to  Valencia;  Napo- 
leon's crushing  defeat  at  Leipzig,  and  Ferdinand's  return 
from  captivity  at  Valengay. 

The  circumstances  through  which  these  last-mentioned 
events  were  induced  or  precipitated,  and  which  are  collect- 
ively known  as  the  Peninsular  War,  originated  at  the  mo- 
ment when  Napoleon  was  practically  master  of  Europe.  Its 
whole  face  was  changed.  Prussia  was  occupied  by  French 
troops.  Holland  was  changed  into  a  monarchy  by  a  simple 
decree  of  the  French  emperor,  and  its  crown  bestowed  on 
his  brother  Louis.  Another  brother,  Jerome,  became  King 
of  Westphalia,  a  new  realm  built  up  out  of  the  electorates 
of  Hesse-Cassel  and  Hanover.  A  third  brother,  Joseph,  was 
made  King  of  Naples;  while  the  rest  of  Italy,  and  even 
Rome  itself,  was  annexed  to  the  French  empire.  It  was 
the  hope  of  effectually  crushing  the  world-power  of  Britain 
which  drove  him  to  his  worst  aggression,  the  aggression 
upon  Spain.  He  acted  with  his  usual  subtlety.  In  Octo- 
ber, 1807,  France  and  Spain  agreed  to  divide  Portugal  be- 
tween them ;  and  on  the  advance  of  their  forces  the  reign- 


MODERN  SPAIN.  171 

ing  House  of  Braganza  fled  helplessly  from  Lisbon  to  a 
refuge  in  Brazil.  But  the  seizure  of  Portugal  was  only 
a  prelude  to  the  seizure  of  Spain.  Charles  IV.,  whom  a 
riot  in  his  capital  drove  at  this  moment  to  abdication,  and 
his  son,  Ferdinand  VII.,  were  drawn  to  Bayonne  in  May, 
1808,  and  forced  to  resign  their  claims  to  the  Spanish 
crown;  while  a  French  army  entered  Madrid  and  pro- 
claimed Joseph  Bonaparte  king  of  Spain.  But  this  high- 
handed act  of  aggression  was  hardly  completed  when  Spain 
rose  as  one  man  against  the  stranger;  and  desperate  as 
the  effort  of  its  people  seemed,  the  news  of  the  rising  was 
welcomed  throughout  England  with  a  burst  of  enthusiastic 
joy.  "Hitherto,"  cried  Sheridan,  a  leader  of  the  "Whig 
opposition,  "Bonaparte  has  contended  with  princes  with- 
out dignity,  numbers  without  ardor,  or  peoples  without 
patriotism.  He  has  yet  to  learn  what  it  is  to  combat  a 
people  who  are  animated  by  one  spirit  against  him."  Tory 
and  Whig  alike  held  that  "never  had  so  happy  an  oppor- 
tunity existed  in  Britain  to  strike  a  bold  stroke  for  the 
rescue  of  the  world";  and  Canning  at  once  resolved  to 
change  the  system  of  desultory  descents  on  colonies  and 
sugar  islands  for  a  vigorous  warfare  in  the  Peninsula. 

The  furious  and  bloody  struggle  which  ensued  found 
its  climax  at  "Vittoria,  but  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  in 
the  whole  history  of  war  a  more  thrilling  chapter  than 
that  which  tells  of  the  six  great  campaigns  of  which  the 
war  itself  was  composed. 

The  Peninsular  "War  was  perhaps  the  least  selfish  con- 
flict ever  waged.  It  was  not  a  war  of  aggrandizement  or 
of  conquest.  It  was  fought  to  deliver  Europe  from  the 
despotism  of  Napoleon.  At  its  close  the  fleets  of  Great 


172  HISTORY    OF   SPAIN. 

Britain  rode  triumphant,  and  in  the  Peninsula  between 
1808-14  her  land  forces  fought  and  won  nineteen  pitched 
battles,  made  or  sustained  ten  fierce  and  bloody  sieges, 
took  four  great  ^ortresses,  twice  expelled  the  French  from 
Portugal  and  once  from  Spain.  Great  Britain  expended 
in  these  campaigns  more  than  one  hundred  million  pounds 
sterling  on  her  own  troops,  besides  subsidizing  the  forces 
of  Spain  and  Portugal.  This  "nation  of  shopkeepers" 
proved  that  when  kindled  to  action  it  could  wage  war  on 
a  scale  and  in  a  fashion  that  might  have  moved  the  won- 
der of  Alexander  or  of  Caesar,  and  from  motives  too  lofty 
for  either  Csesar  or  Alexander  so  much  as  to  comprehend. 
It  is  worth  while  to  tell  afresh  the  story  of  some  of  the 
more  picturesque  incidents  in  that  great  strife. 

On  April  6,  1812,  Badajos  was  stormed  by  Wellington; 
and  the  story  forms  one  of  the  most  tragical  and  splendid 
incidents  in  the  military  history  of  the  world.  Of  "the 
night  of  horrors  at  Badajos,"  Napier  says,  "posterity  can 
scarcely  be  expected  to  credit  the  tale."  Wo  tale,  however, 
is  better  authenticated,  or,  as  an  example  of  what  disci- 
plined human  valor  is  capable  of  achieving,  better  deserves 
to  be  told.  Wellington  was  preparing  for  his  great  for- 
ward movement  into  Spain,  the  campaign  which  led  to 
Salamanca,  the  battle  in  which  "forty  thousand  French- 
men were  beaten  in  forty  minutes."  As  a  preliminary  he 
had  to  capture,  under  the  vigilant  eyes  of  Soult  and  Mar- 
mont,  the  two  great  border  fortresses,  Ciudad  Rodrigo  and 
Badajos.  He  had,  to  use  Napier's  phrase,  "jumped  with 
both  feet"  on  the  first-named  fortress,  and  captured  it  in 
twelve  days  with  a  loss  of  twelve  hundred  men  and  ninety 
officers. 


MODERN  SPAIN.  173 

But  Badajos  was  a  still  harder  task.  The  city  stands 
on  a  rocky  ridge  which  forms  the  last  spur  of  the  Toledo 
range,  and  is  of  extraordinary  strength.  The  river  Rivil- 
las  falls  almost  at  right  angles  into  the  Guadiana,  and  in 
the  angle  formed  by  their  junction  stands  Badajos,  oval 
in  shape,  girdled  with  elaborate  defenses,  with  the  Guadi- 
ana, five  hundred  yards  wide,  as  its  defense  to  the  north, 
the  Rivilla^  serving  as  a  wet  ditch  to  the  west,  and  no  less 
than  five  great  fortified  outposts — Saint  Roque,  Christoval, 
Picurina,  Pardaleras,  and  a  fortified  bridge-head  across 
the  Guadiana — as  the  outer  zone  of  its  defenses.  Twice 
the  English  had  already  assailed  Badajos,  but  assailed  it 
in  vain.  It  was  now  held  by  a  garrison  five  thousand 
strong,  under  a  soldier,  General  Phillipson,  with  a  real 
genius  for  defense,  and  the  utmost  art  had  been  employed 
in  adding  to  its  defenses.  On  the  other  hand,  Wellington 
had  no  means  of  transport  and  no  battery  train,  and  had 
to  make  all  his  preparations  under  the  keen-eyed  vigilance 
of  the  French.  Perhaps  the  strangest  collection  of  artillery 
ever  employed  in  a  great  siege  was  that  which  Wellington 
collected  from  every  available  quarter  and  used  at  Bada- 
jos. Of  the  fifty-two  pieces,  some  dated  from  the  days 
of  Philip  II.  and  the  Spanish  Armada,  some  were  cast  in 
the  reign  of  Philip  III.,  others  in  that  of  John  IV.  of 
Portugal,  who  reigned  in  1640;  there  were  24-pounders 
of  George  II. 's  day,  and  Russian  naval  guns;  the  bulk  of 
the  extraordinary  medley  being  obsolete  brass  engines 
which  required  from  seven  to  ten  minutes  to  cool  between 
each  discharge. 

Wellington,  however,  was  strong  in  his  own  warlike 
genius  and  in  the  quality  of  the  troops  he  commanded. 


174  HISTORY   OF  SPAIN. 

He  employed  eighteen  thousand  men  in  the  siege,  and  it 
may  well  be  doubted  whether — if  we  put  the  question  of 
equipment  aside— a  more  perfect  fighting  instrument  than 
the  force  under  his  orders  ever  existed.  The  men  were 
veterans,  but  the  officers  on  the  whole  were  young,  so  there 
was  steadiness  in  the  ranks  and  fire  in  the  leading.  Hill 
and  Graham  covered  the  siege,  Picton  and  Barnard,  Kempt 
and  Colville  led  the  assaults.  The  trenches  were  held  by 
the  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  divisions,  and  by  the  famous 
light  division.  Of  the  latter  it  has  been  said  that  the 
Macedonian  phalanx  of  Alexander  the  Great,  the  Tenth 
Legion  of  Caesar,  the  famous  Spanish  infantry  of  Alva,  or 
the  iron  soldiers  who  followed  Cortes  to  Mexico,  did  not 
exceed  it  in  warlike  quality.  Wellington's  troops,  too,  had 
a  personal  grudge  against  Badajos,  and  had  two  defeats  to 
avenge.  Perhaps  no  siege  in  history,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
ever  witnessed  either  more  furious  valor  in  the  assault,  or 
more  of  cool  and  skilled  courage  in  the  defense.  The  siege 
lasted  exactly  twenty  days,  and  cost  the  besiegers  five  thou- 
sand men,  or  an  average  loss  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  per 
day.  It  was  waged  throughout  in  stormy  weather,  with 
the  rivers  steadily  rising,  and  the  tempests  perpetually 
blowing;  yet  the  thunder  of  the  attack  never  paused  for 
an  instant. 

Wellington's  engineers  attacked  the  city  at  the  eastern 
end  of  the  oval,  where  the  Rivillas  served  it  as  a  gigantic 
wet  ditch;  and  the  Picurina,  a  fortified  hill,  ringed  by  a 
ditch  fourteen  feet  deep,  a  rampart  sixteen  feet  high,  and 
a  zone  of  mines,  acted  as  an  outwork.  Wellington,  curi. 
ously  enough,  believed  in  night  attacks,  a  sure  proof  of  his 
faith  in  the  quality  of  the  men  he  commanded ;  and  on  the 


MODERN  SPAIN.  175 

eighth  night  of  the  siege,  at  nine  o'clock,  five  hundred  men 
of  the  third  division  were  suddenly  flung  on  the  Picurina. 
The  fort  broke  into  a  ring  of  flame,  by  the  light  of  which 
the  dark  figures  of  the  stormers  were  seen  leaping  with 
fierce  hardihood  into  the  ditch  and  struggling  madly  up 
the  ramparts,  or  tearing  furiously  at  the  palisades.  But 
the  defenses  were  strong,  and  the  assailants  fell  literally 
in  scores.  Napier  tells  how  "the  axmen  of  the  light  divis- 
ion, compassing  the  fort  like  prowling  wolves,"  discovered 
the  gate  at  the  rear,  and  so  broke  into  the  fort.  The  en- 
gineer officer  who  led  the  attack  declares  that  "the  place 
would  never  have  been  taken  had  it  not  been  for  the  cool- 
ness of  these  men"  in  absolutely  walking  round  the  fort  to 
its  rear,  discovering  the  gate,  and  hewing  it  down  under 
a  tempest  of  bullets.  The  assault  lasted  an  hour,  and  in 
that  period,  out  of  the  five  hundred  men  who  attacked,  no 
less  than  three  hundred,  with  nineteen  officers,  were  killed 
or  wounded !  Three  men  out  of  every  five  in  the  attacking 
force,  that  is,  were  disabled,  and  yet  they  won! 

There  followed  twelve  days  of  furious  industry,  of 
trenches  pushed  tirelessly  forward  through  mud  and  wet, 
and  of  cannonading  that  only  ceased  when  the  guns  grew 
too  hot  to  be  used.  Captain  MacCarthy,  of  the  Fiftieth 
Regiment,  has  left  a  curious  little  monograph  on  the  siege, 
full  of  incidents,  half  tragic  and  half  amusing,  but  which 
show  the  temper  of  Wellington's  troops.  Thus  he  tells 
how  an  engineer  officer,  when  marking  out  the  ground  for 
a  breaching-battery  very  near  the  wall,  which  was  always 
lined  with  French  soldiers  in  eager  search  of  human  tar- 
gets, "used  to  challenge  them  to  prove  the  perfection  of 
their  shooting  by  lifting  up  the  skirts  of  his  coat  in  deft- 


176  EISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

ance  several  times  in  the  course  of  his  survey  \  driving  in 
his  stakes  and  measuring  his  distances  with  great  delibera- 
tion, and  concluding  by  an  extra  shake  of  his  coat-tails 
and  an  ironical  bow  before  he  stepped  under  shelter!" 

On  the  night  of  April  6,  "Wellington  determined  to  as- 
sault. No  less  than  seven  attacks  were  to  be  delivered. 
Two  of  them — on  the  bridge-head  across  the  Guadiana  and 
on  the  Pardaleras — were  mere  feints.  But  on  the  extreme 
right  Picton  with  the  third  division  was  to  cross  the  Rivillas 
and  escalade  the  castle,  whose  walls  rose,  time-stained  and 
grim,  from  eighteen  to  twenty-four  feet  high.  Leith  with 
the  fifth  division  was  to  attack  the  opposite  or  western  ex- 
tremity of  the  town,  the  bastion  of  St.  Vincente,  where  the 
glacis  was  mined,  the  ditch  deep,  and  the  scarp  thirty  feet 
high.  Against  the  actual  breaches  Colville  and  Andrew 
Barnard  were  to  lead  the  light  division  and  the  fourth 
division,  the  former  attacking  the  bastion  of  Santa  Maria 
and  the  latter  the  Trinidad.  The  hour  was  fixed  for  ten 
o'clock,  and  the  story  of  that  night  attack,  as  told  in  Na- 
pier's immortal  prose,  is  one  of  the  great  battle-pictures  of 
literature ;  and  any  one  who  tries  to  tell  the  tale  will  find 
himself  slipping  insensibly  into  Napier's  cadences. 

The  night  was  black;  a  strange  silence  lay  on  rampart 
and  trench,  broken  from  time  to  time  by  the  deep  voices 
of  the  sentinels  that  proclaimed  all  was  well  in  Badajos. 
"Sentinelle  garde  a  vous,"  the  cry  of  the  sentinels,  was 
translated  by  the  British  private,  as  "All's  well  in  Bada- 
hoo!"  A  lighted  carcass  thrown  from  the  castle  discov- 
ered Picton's  men  standing  in  ordered  array,  and  com- 
pelled them  to  attack  at  once.  MacCarthy,  who  acted  as 
guide  across  the  tangle  of  wet  trenches  and  the  narrow 


MODERN  SPAIN.  177 

bridge  that  spanned  the  Rivillas,  has  left  an  amusing  ac- 
count of  the  scene.  At  one  time  Picton  declared  MacCarthy 
was  leading  them  wrong,  and,  drawing  his  sword,  swore  he 
would  cut  him  down.  The  column  reached  the  trench,  how- 
ever, at  the  foot  of  the  castle  walls,  and  was  instantly  over- 
whelmed with  the  fire  of  the  besieged.  MacCarthy  says 
we  can  only  picture  the  scene  by  "supposing  that  all  the 
stars,  planets,  and  meteors  of  the  firmament,  with  innum- 
erable moons  emitting  smaller  ones  in  their  course,  were 
descending  on  the  heads  of  the  besiegers."  MacCarthy 
himself,  a  typical  and  gallant  Irishman,  addressed  his  gen- 
eral with  the  exultant  remark,  "'Tis  a  glorious  night,  sir 
— a  glorious  night!"  and,  rushing  forward  to  the  head  of 
the  stormers,  shouted,  "Up  with  the  ladders!"  The  five 
ladders  were  raised,  the  troops  swarmed  up,  an  officer  lead- 
ing, but  the  first  files  were  at  once  crushed  by  cannon  fire, 
and  the  ladders  slipped  into  the  angle  of  the  abutments. 
"Dreadful  their  fall,"  records  MacCarthy  of  the  slaugh- 
tered stonners,  "and  appalling  their  appearance  at  day- 
light." One  ladder  remained,  and,  a  private  soldier  lead- 
ing, the  eager  red-coated  crowd  swarmed  up  it.  The  brave 
fellow  leading  was  shot  as  soon  as  his  head  appeared  above 
the  parapet ;  but  the  next  man  to  him — again  a  private — 
leaped  over  the  parapet,  and  was  followed  quickly  by  oth- 
ers, and  this  thin  stream  of  desperate  men  climbed  singly, 
and  in  the  teeth  of  the  flashing  musketry,  up  that  solitary 
ladder,  and  carried  the  castle. 

In  the  meanwhile  the  fourth  and  light  divisions  had 
flung  themselves  with  cool  and  silent  speed  on  the  breaches. 
The  storming  party  of  each  division  leaped  into  the  ditch. 
It  was  mined,  the  fuse  was  kindled,  and  the  ditch,  crowded 


178  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

with  eager  soldiery,  became  in  a  moment  a  sort  of  flaming 
crater,  and  the  storming  parties,  five  hundred  strong,  were 
in  one  fierce  explosion  dashed  to  pieces.  In  the  light  of 
that  dreadful  flame  the  whole  scene  became  visible — the 
black  ramparts,  crowded  with  dark  figures  and  glittering 
arms,  on  the  one  side;  on  the  other,  the  red  columns  of  the 
British,  broad  and  deep,  moving  steadily  forward  like  a 
stream  of  human  lava.  The  light  division  stood  at  the 
brink  of  the  smoking  ditch  for  an  instant,  amazed  at  the 
sight.  "Then,"  says  Napier,  "with  a  shout  that  matched 
even  the  sound  of  the  explosion,"  they  leaped  into  it  and 
swarmed  up  to  the  breach.  The  fourth  division  came  run- 
ning up  and  descended  with  equal  fury,  but  the  ditch  op- 
posite the  Trinidad  was  filled  with  water;  the  head  of  the 
division  leaped  into  it,  and,  as  Napier  puts  it,  "about  one 
hundred  of  the  fusiliers,  the  men  of  Albuera,  perished 
there/'  The  breaches  were  impassable.  Across  the  top 
of  the  great  slope  of  broken  wall  glittered  a  fringe  of 
sword  -  blades,  sharp-pointed,  keen -edged  on  both  sides, 
fixed  in  ponderous  beams  chained  together  and  set  deep 
in  the  ruins.  For  ten  feet  in  front  the  ascent  was  covered 
with  loose  planks,  studded  with  sharp  iron  points.  Behind 
the  glittering  edge  of  sword-blades  stood  the  solid  ranks 
of  the  French,  each  man  supplied  with  three  muskets,  and 
their  fire  scourged  the  British  ranks  like  a  tempest. 

Hundreds  had  fallen,  hundreds  were  still  falling;  but 
the  British  clung  doggedly  to  the  lower  slopes,  and  every 
few  minutes  an  officer  would  leap  forward  with  a  shout, 
a  swarm  of  men  would  instantly  follow  him,  and,  like 
leaves  blown  by  a  whirlwind,  they  swept  up  the  ascent. 
But  under  the  incessant  fire  of  the  French  the  assailants 


MODERN  SPAIN.  17& 

melted  away.  One  private  reached  the  sword-blades,  and 
actually  thrust  his  head  beneath  them  till  his  brains  were 
beaten  out,  so  desperate  was  his  resolve  to  get  into  Bada- 
jos.  The  breach,  as  Napier  describes  it,  "yawning  and 
glittering  with  steel,  resembled  the  mouth  of  a  huge 
dragon  belching  forth  smoke  and  flame."  But  for  two 
hours,  and  until  two  thousand  men  had  fallen,  the  stub- 
born British  persisted  in  then*  attacks.  Currie,  of  the  52d, 
a  cool  and  most  daring  soldier,  found  a  narrow  ramp  be- 
yond the  Santa  Maria  breach  only  half -ruined;  he  forced 
his  way  back  through  the  tumult  and  carnage  to  where 
"Wellington  stood  watching  the  scene,  obtained  an  unbroken 
battalion  from  the  reserve,  and  led  it  toward  the  broken 
ramp.  But  his  men  were  caught  in  the  whirling  madness 
of  the  ditch  and  swallowed  up  in  the  tumult.  Nicholas,  of 
the  engineers,  and  Shaw  of  the  43d,  with  some  fifty  sol- 
diers, actually  climbed  into  the  Santa  Maria  bastion,  and 
from  thence  tried  to  force  their  way  into  the  breach.  Every 
man  was  shot  down  except  Shaw,  who  stood  alone  on  the 
bastion.  "With  inexpressible  coolness  he  looked  at  his 
watch,  said  it  was  too  late  to  carry  the  breaches,"  and 
then  leaped  down!  The  British  could  not  penetrate  the 
breach ;  but  they  would  not  retreat.  They  could  only  die 
where  they  stood.  The  buglers  of  the  reserve  were  sent 
to  the  crest  of  the  glacis  to  sound  the  retreat;  the  troops 
in  the  ditch  would  not  believe  the  signal  to  be  genuine, 
and  struck  their  own  buglers  who  attempted  to  repeat  it. 
"Gathering  in  dark  groups,  and  leaning  on  their  muskets," 
says  Napier,  "they  looked  up  in  sullen  desperation  at  Trini- 
dad, while  the  enemy,  stepping  out  on  the  ramparts,  and 
aiming  their  shots  by  the  light  of  fire-balls,  which  they 


ISO  HISTORY    OF   SPAIN. 

threw  over,  asked  as  their  victims  fell,  'Why  they  did  not 
come  into  Badajos.'  " 

All  this  while,  curiously  enough,  Picton  was  actually 
in  Badajos,  and  held  the  castle  securely,  but  made  no 
attempt  to  clear  the  breach.  On  the  extreme  west  of  the 
town,  however,  at  the  bastion  of  San  Vincente,  the  fifth 
division  made  an  attack  as  desperate  as  that  which  was 
failing  at  the  breaches.  When  the  stormers  actually 
reached  the  bastion,  the  Portuguese  battalions,  who 
formed  part  of  the  attack,  dismayed  by  the  tremendous 
fire  which  broke  out  on  them,  flung  down  their  ladders 
and  fled.  The  British,  however,  snatched  the  ladders  up, 
forced  the  barrier,  jumped  into  the  ditch,  and  tried  to 
climb  the  walls.  These  were  thirty  feet  high,  and  the 
ladders  were  too  short.  A  mine  was  sprung  in  the  ditch 
under  the  soldiers'  feet;  beams  of  wood,  stones,  broken 
wagons,  and  live  shells  were  poured  upon  their  heads 
from  above.  Showers  of  grape  from  the  flank  swept  the 
ditch. 

The  stubborn  soldiers,  however,  discovered  a  low  spot 
in  the  rampart,  placed  three  ladders  against  it,  and  climbed 
with  reckless  valor.  The  first  man  was  pushed  up  by  his 
comrades;  he,  in  turn,  dragged  others  up,  and  the  un- 
conquerable British  at  length  broke  through  and  swept 
the  bastion.  The  tumult  still  stormed  and  raged  at  the 
eastern  breaches,  where  the  men  of  the  light  and  fourth 
division  were  dying  sullenly,  and  the  men  of  the  fifth 
division  marched  at  speed  across  the  town  to  take  the 
great  eastern  breach  in  the  rear.  The  streets  were  empty, 
but  the  silent  houses  were  bright  with  lamps.  The  men 
of  the  fifth  pressed  on;  they  captured  mules  carrying  am- 


MODERN  SPAIN.  181 

monition  to  the  breaches,  and  the  French,  startled  by  the 
tramp  of  the  fast-approaching  column,  and  finding  them- 
selves taken  in  the  rear,  fled.  The  light  and  fourth  divis- 
ions broke  through  the  gap  hitherto  barred  by  flame  and 
steel,  and  Badajos  was  won! 

In  that  dreadful  night  assault  the  English  lost  three 
thousand  five  hundred  men.  "Let  it  be  considered,"  says 
Napier,  "that  this  frightful  carnage  took  place  in  the 
space  of  less  than  a  hundred  yards  square — that  the  slain 
died  not  all  suddenly,  nor  by  one  manner  of  death — that 
some  perished  by  steel,  some  by  shot,  some  by  water; 
that  some  were  crushed  and  mangled  by  heavy  weights, 
some  trampled  upon,  some  dashed  to  atoms  by  the  fiery 
explosions— that  for  hours  this  destruction  was  endured 
without  shrinking,  and  the  town  was  won  at  last.  Let 
these  things  be  considered,  and  it  must  be  admitted  a 
British  army  bears  with  it  an  awful  power.  And  false 
would  it  be  to  say  the  French  were  feeble  men.  The 
garrison  stood  and  fought  manfully  and  with  good  disci- 
pline, behaving  worthily.  Shame  there  was  none  on  any 
side.  Yet  who  shall  do  justice  to  the  bravery  of  the  Brit- 
ish soldiers  or  the  noble  emulation  of  the  officers?  .  .  . 
No  age,  no  {nation,  ever  sent  forth  braver  troops  to  battle 
than  those  who  stormed  Badajos." 

In  addition  to  Badajos,  the  siege  of  Ciudad  Rodrigo 
and  of  San  Sebastian  deserve  mention.  The  annals  of 
strife  nowhere  record  assaults  more  daring  than  those 
which  raged  hi  turn  around  these  three  great  fortresses. 
Of  them  all  that  of  Badajos  was  the  most  picturesque  and 
bloody;  that  of  San  Sebastian  the  most  sullen  and  exas- 
perating; that  of  Ciudad  Rodrigo  too  swiftest  and  most 


182  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

brilliant.  A  great  siege  tests  the  fighting  quality  of  anj 
army  as  nothing  else  can  test  it.  In  the  night  watches  in 
the  trenches,  in  the  dogged  toil  of  the  batteries,  and  the 
crowded  perils  of  the  breach,  all  the  frippery  and  much  of 
the  real  discipline  of  an  army  dissolves.  The  soldiers  fall 
back  upon  what  may  be  called  the  primitive  fighting  quali- 
ties— the  hardihood  of  the  individual  soldier,  the  daring 
with  which  the  officers  will  lead,  the  dogged  loyalty  with 
which  the  men  will  follow.  As  an  illustration  of  the  war- 
like qualities  in  a  race  by  which  empire  has  been  achieved, 
nothing  better  can  be  desired  than  the  story  of  how  the 
breaches  were  won  at  Ciudad  Rodrigo. 

At  the  end  of  1811  the  English  and  the  French  were 
watching  each  other  jealously  across  the  Spanish  border. 
The  armies  of  Marmont  and  of  Soult,  sixty-seven  thousand 
strong,  lay  within  touch  of  each  other,  barring  Welling- 
ton's entrance  into  Spain.  Wellington,  with  thirty-five 
thousand  men,  of  whom  not  more  than  ten  thousand  men 
were  British,  lay  within  sight  of  the  Spanish  frontier.  It 
was  the  winter  time.  Wellington's  army  was  wasted  by 
sickness,  his  horses  were  dying  of  mere  starvation,  his  men 
had  received  no  pay  for  three  months,  and  his  muleteers 
none  for  eight  months.  He  had  no  siege  train,  his  regi- 
ments were  ragged  and  hungry,  and  the  French  generals 
confidently  reckoned  the  British  army  as,  for  the  moment 
at  least,  une  quantite  negligeable. 

And  yet  at  that  precise  moment,  Wellington,  subtle  and 
daring,  was  meditating  a  leap  upon  the  great  frontier  for- 
tress of  Ciudad  Rodrigo,  in  the  Spanish  province  of  Sala- 
manca. Its  capture  would  give  him  a  safe  base  of  opera- 
tions against  Spain  j  it  was  the  great  frontier  place  d'armes 


JtODERA   SPAIN.  183 

for  the  French;  the  whole  siege-equipage  and  stores  of  the 
army  of  Portugal  were  contained  in  it.  The  problem  of 
how,  in  the  depth  of  winter,  without  materials  for  a  siege, 
to  snatch  a  place  so  strong  from  under  the  very  eyes  of 
two  armies,  each  stronger  than  his  own,  was  a  problem 
which  might  have  taxed  the  warlike  genius  of  a  Csesar. 
But  Wellington  accomplished  it  with  a  combination  of 
subtlety  and  audacity  simply  marvelous. 

He  kept  the  secret  of  his  design  so  perfectly  that  his 
own  engineers  never  suspected  it,  and  his  adjutant-gen- 
eral, Murray,  went  home  on  leave  without  dreaming  any- 
thing was  going  to  happen.  "Wellington  collected  artillery 
ostensibly  for  the  purpose  of  arming  Almeida,  but  the  guns 
were  transshipped  at  sea  and  brought  secretly  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Douro.  No  less  than  eight  hundred  mule-carts  were 
constructed  without  anybody  guessing  their  purpose.  Well- 
ington, while  these  preparations  were  on  foot,  was  keenly 
watching  Marmont  and  Soult,  till  he  saw  that  they  were 
lulled  into  a  state  of  mere  yawning  security,  and  then,  in 
Napier's  expressive  phrase,  he  "instantly  jumped  with  both 
feet  upon  Ciudad  Rodrigo." 

This  famous  fortress,  in  shape,  roughly  resembles  a 
triangle  with  the  angles  truncated.  The  base,  looking  to 
the  south,  is  covered  by  the  Agueda,  a  river  given  to  sud- 
den inundations;  the  fortifications  were  strong  and  formi- 
dably armed;  as  outworks  it  had  to  the  east  the  great 
fortified  Convent  of  San  Francisco,  to  the  west  a  similar 
building  called  Santa  Cruz;  while  almost  parallel  with  the 
northern  face  rose  two  rocky  ridges  called  the  Great  and 
Small  Teson,  the  nearest  within  six  hundred  yards  of  the 
city  ramparts,  and  crowned  by  a  formidable  redoubt  called 


184  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

Francisco.  The  siege  began  on  January  8.  The  soil  was 
rocky  and  covered  with  snow,  the  nights  were  black,  the 
•weather  bitter.  The  men  lacked  intrenching  tools.  They 
had  to  encamp  on  the  side  of  the  Agueda  furthest  from 
the  city,  and  ford  that  river  every  time  the  trenches  were 
relieved.  The  1st,  3d,  and  light  divisions  formed  the  at- 
tacking force;  each  division  held  the  trenches  in  turn  for 
twenty-four  hours.  Let  the  reader  imagine  what  degree 
of  hardihood  it  took  to  wade  in  the  gray  and  bitter  winter 
dawn  through  a  half-frozen  river,  and,  without  fire  or 
warm  food,  and  under  a  ceaseless  rain  of  shells  from  the 
enemy's  guns,  to  toil  in  the  frozen  trenches,  or  to  keep 
watch,  while  the  icicles  hung  from  eyebrow  and  beard, 
over  the  edge  of  the  battery  for  twenty-four  hours  in 
succession. 

Nothing  in  this  great  siege  is  more  wonderful  than  the 
fierce  speed  with  which  "Wellington  urged  his  operations. 
Massena,  who  had  besieged  and  captured  the  city  the  year 
before  in  the  height  of  summer,  spent  a  month  in  bom- 
barding it  before  he  ventured  to  assault.  Wellington  broke 
ground  on  January  8,  under  a  tempest  of  mingled  hail  and 
rain;  he  stormed  it  on  the  night  of  the  19th. 

He  began  operations  by  leaping  on  the  strong  work 
that  crowned  the  Great  Teson  the  very  night  the  siege 
began.  Two  companies  from  each  regiment  of  the  light 
division  were  detailed  by  the  officer  of  the  day,  Colonel 
Colborne,  for  the  assault.  Oolborne  (afterward  Lord  Sea- 
ton),  a  cool  and  gallant  soldier,  called  his  officers  together 
in  a  group  and  explained  with  great  minuteness  how  they 
were  to  attack.  He  then  lanched  his  men  against  the  re- 
doubt with  a  vehemence  so  swift  that,  to  those  who 


MODERN  SPAIN.  185 

watched  the  scene  under  the  light  of  a  wintry  moon,  the 
column  of  redcoats,  like  the  thrust  of  a  crimson  sword- 
blade,  spanned  the  ditch,  shot  up  the  glacis,  and  broke 
through  the  parapet  with  a  single  movement.  The  acci- 
dental explosion  of  a  French  shell  burst  the  gate  open, 
and  the  remainder  of  the  attacking  party  instantly  swept 
through  it.  There  was  fierce  musketry  fire  and  a  tumult 
of  shouting  for  a  moment  or  two,  but  in  twenty  minutes 
from  Colborne's  lanching  his  attack  every  Frenchman  in 
the  redoubt  was  killed,  wounded,  or  a  prisoner. 

The  fashion  in  which  the  gate  was  blown  open  was  very 
curious.  A  French  sergeant  was  in  the  act  of  throwing 
a  live  shell  upon  the  storming  party  in  the  ditch,  when 
he  was  struck  by  an  English  bullet.  The  lighted  shell 
fell  from  his  hands  within  the  parapet,  was  kicked  away 
by  the  nearest  French  in  mere  self-preservation;  it  rolled 
toward  the  gate,  exploded,  burst  it  open,  and  instantly  the 
British  broke  in. 

For  ten  days  a  desperate  artillery  duel  raged  between 
the  besiegers  and  [.the  besieged.  The  parallels  were  reso- 
lutely pushed  on  in  spite  of  rocky  soil,  broken  tools,  bitter 
weather,  and  the  incessant  pelting  of  the  French  guns. 
The  temper  of  the  British  troops  is  illustrated  by  an  inci- 
dent which  George  Napier — the  youngest  of  the  three 
Napiers — relates.  The  three  brothers  were  gallant  and 
remarkable  soldiers.  Charles  Napier  in  India  and  else- 
where made  history;  "William,  in  his  wonderful  tale  of 
the  Peninsular  War,  wrote  history;  and  George,  if  he  had 
not  the  literary  genius  of  the  one  nor  the  strategic  skill 
of  the  other,  was  a  most  gallant  soldier.  "I  was  a  field- 
officer  of  the  trenches,"  he  says,  "when  a  13-inch  shell 


186  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

from  the  town  fell  in  the  midst  of  us.  I  called  to  the 
men  to  lie  down  flat,  and  they  instantly  obeyed  orders, 
except  one  of  them,  an  Irishman  and  an  old  marine,  but 
a  most  worthless  drunken  dog,  who  trotted  up  to  the  shell, 
the  fuse  of  which  was  still  burning,  and  striking  it  with 
his  spade,  knocked  the  fuse  out;  then  taking  the  immense 
shell  in  his  hands,  brought  it  to  me,  saying,  'There  she  is 
for  you  now,  yer  'anner.  I've  knocked  the  life  out  of  the 
crater.'  " 

The  besieged  brought  fifty  heavy  guns  to  reply  to  the 
thirty  light  pieces  by  which  they  were  assailed,  and  day 
and  night  the  bellow  of  eighty  pieces  boomed  sullenly  over 
the  doomed  city  and  echoed  faintly  back  from  the  nearer 
frilly  while  the  walls  crashed  to  the  stroke  of  the  bullet. 
The  English  fire  made  up  by  fierceness  and  accuracy  for 
what  it  lacked  in  weight;  but  the  sap  made  no  progress, 
the  guns  showed  signs  of  being  worn  out,  and,  although 
two  apparent  breaches  had  been  made,  the  counterscarp 
was  not  destroyed.  Yet  Wellington  determined  to  attack, 
and,  in  his  characteristic  fashion,  to  attack  by  night.  The 
siege  had  lasted  ten  days,  and  Marmont,  with  an  army 
stronger  than  his  own,  was  lying  within  four  marches. 
That  he  had  not  appeared  already  on  the  scene  was 
wonderful. 

In  a  general  order  issued  on  the  evening  of  the  19th 
"Wellington  wrote,  "Ciudad  Rodrigo  must  be  stormed  this 
evening."  The  great  breach  was  a  sloping  gap  in  the  wall 
at  its  northern  angle,  about  a  hundred  feet  wide.  The 
French  had  crowned  it  with  two  guns  loaded  with  grape, 
the  slope  was  strewn  with  bombs,  hand-grenades  and  bags 
of  powder;  a  great  mine  pierced  it  beneath;  a  deep  ditch 


MODERN  SPAIN.  187 

had  been  cut  between  the  breach  and  the  adjoining  ram- 
parts, and  these  were  crowded  with  riflemen.  The  third 
division,  under  General  Mackinnon,  was  to  attack  the 
breach,  its  forlorn  hope  being  led  by  Ensign  Mackie,  its 
storming  party  by  General  Mackinnon  himself.  The  lesser 
breach  was  a  tiny  gap,  scarcely  twenty  feet  wide,  to  the 
left  of  the  great  breach;  this  was  to  be  attacked  by  the 
light  division,  under  Craufurd,  its  forlorn  hope  of  twenty- 
five  men  being  led  by  Gurwood,  and  its  storming  party  by 
George  Napier.  General  Pack,  with  a  Portuguese  brigade, 
was  to  make  a  sham  attack  on  the  eastern  face,  while  a 
fourth  attack  was  to  be  made  on  the  southern  front  by 
a  company  of  the  83d  and  some  Portuguese  troops.  In 
the  storming  party  of  the  83d  were  the  Earl  of  March, 
afterward  Duke  of  Richmond;  Lord  Fitzroy  Somerset, 
afterward  Lord  Raglan;  and  the  Prince  of  Orange — all 
volunteers  without  "Wellington's  knowledge! 

At  seven  o'clock  a  curious  silence  fell  suddenly  on  the 
battered  city  and  the  engirdling  trenches.  Not  a  light 
gleamed  from  the  frowning  parapets,  not  a  murmur 
arose  from  the  blackened  trenches.  Suddenly  a  shout 
broke  out  on  the  right  of  the  English  attack;  it  ran,  a 
wave  of  stormy  sound,  along  the  line  of  the  trenches. 
The  men  who  were  to  attack  the  great  breach  leaped 
into  the  open.  In  a  moment  the  space  between  the  hos- 
tile lines  was  covered  with  the  stormers,  and  the  gloomy, 
half -seen  face  of  the  great  fortress  broke  into  a  tempest 
of  fire. 

Nothing  could  be  finer  than  the  vehement  courage  of 
the  assault,  unless  it  were  the  cool  and  steady  fortitude  of 
the  defense.  Swift  as  was  the  upward  rush  of  the  storm- 


188  HISTORY    OF   SPAIN. 

ers,  the  race  of  the  5th,  77th,  and  94th  regiments  was 
almost  swifter.  Scorning  to  wait  for  the  ladders,  they 
leaped  into  the  great  ditch,  outpaced  even  the  forlorn 
hope,  and  pushed  vehemently  up  the  great  breach,  while 
their  red  ranks  were  torn  by  shell  and  shot.  The  fire, 
too,  ran  through  the  tangle  of  broken  stones  over  which 
they  climbed;  the  hand-grenades  and  powder-bags  by 
which  it  was  strewn  exploded.  The  men  were  walking 
on  fire!  Yet  the  attack  could  not  be  denied.  The  French- 
men— shooting,  stabbing,  yelling — were  driven  behind  their 
intrenchments.  There  the  fire  of  the  houses  commanding 
the  breach  came  to  their  help,  and  they  made  a  gallant 
stand.  "None  would  go  back  on  either  side,  and  yet  the 
British  could  not  get  forward,  and  men  and  officers  falling 
in  heaps  choked  up  the  passage,  which  from  minute  to 
minute  was  raked  with  grape  from  two  guns  flanking  the 
top  of  the  breach  at  the  distance  of  a  few  yards.  Thus 
striving,  and  trampling  alike  upon  the  dead  and  the 
wounded,  these  brave  men  maintained  the  combat." 

It  was  the  attack  on  the  smaller  breach  which  really 
carried  Ciudad  Rodrigo;  and  George  Napier,  who  led  it, 
has  left  a  graphic  narrative  of  the  exciting  experiences  of 
that  dreadful  night.  The  light  division  was  to  attack,  and 
Craufurd,  with  whom  Napier  was  a  favorite,  gave  him 
command  of  the  storming  party.  He  was  to  ask  for  one 
hundred  volunteers  from  each  of  the  three  British  regi- 
ments— the  43d,  52d,  and  the  rifle  corps — in  the  division. 
Napier  halted  these  regiments  just  as  they  had  forded  the 
bitterly  cold  river  on  their  way  to  the  trenches.  "Sol- 
diers," he  said,  "I  want  one  hundred  men  from  each  regi 
ment  to  form  the  storming  party  which  is  to  lead  the  light 


MODERN   SPAIN.  189 

division  to-night.  Those  who  will  go  with  me  come  for- 
ward!" Instantly  there  was  a  rush  forward  of  the  whole 
division,  and  Napier  had  to  take  his  three  hundred  men 
out  of  a  tumult  of  nearly  one  thousand  five  hundred  can- 
didates. He  formed  them  into  three  companies,  under 
Captains  Ferguson,  Jones,  and  Mitchell.  Gurwood,  of 
the  52d,  led  the  forlorn  hope,  consisting  of  twenty-five 
men  and  two  sergeants.  Wellington  himself  came  to  the 
trench  and  showed  Napier  and  Colborne,  through  the 
gloom  of  the  early  night,  the  exact  position  of  the  breach. 
A  staff-officer,  looking  on,  said,  "Your  men  are  not 
loaded.  Why  don't  you  make  them  load?"  Napier  re- 
plied, "If  we  don't  do  the  business  with  the  bayonet  we 
shall  not  do  it  at  all.  I  shall  not  load."  "Let  him 
alone,"  said  Wellington;  "let  him  go  his  own  way." 
Picton  had  adopted  the  same  grim  policy  with  the  third 
division.  As  each  regiment  passed  him,  filing  into  the 
trenches,  his  injunction  was,  "No  powder!  We'll  do  the 
thing  with  the  could  iron." 

A  party  of  Portuguese  carrying  bags  filled  with  grass 
were  to  run  with  the  storming  party  and  throw  the  bags 
into  the  ditch,  as  the  leap  was  too  deep  for  the  men.  But 
the  Portuguese  hesitated,  the  tumult  of  the  attack  on  the 
great  breach  suddenly  broke  on  the  night,  and  the  forlorn 
hope  went  running  up,  leaped  into  the  ditch  a  depth  of 
eleven  feet,  and  clambered  up  the  steep  slope  beyond, 
while  Napier  with  his  stormers  came  with  a  run  behind 
them.  In  the  dark  for  a  moment  the  breach  was  lost, 
but  found  again,  and  up  the  steep  quarry  of  broken  stone 
the  attack  swept. 

About  two-thirds   of    the  way   up,    Napier's  arm  was 


190  HISTORY    OF  SPAIN. 

smashed  by  a  grape-shot,  and  he  fell.  His  men,  checked 
for  a  moment,  lifted  their  muskets  to  the  gap  above  them, 
whence  the  French  were  firing  vehemently,  and  forgetting 
their  pieces  were  unloaded,  snapped  them.  "Push  on  with 
the  bayonet,  men!"  shouted  Napier,  as  he  lay  bleeding. 
The  officers  leaped  to  the  front,  the  men  with  a  stern  shout 
followed;  they  were  crushed  to  a  front  of  not  more  than 
three  or  four.  They  had  to  climb  without  firing  a  shot  in 
reply  up  to  the  muzzles  of  the  French  muskets. 

But  nothing  could  stop  the  men  of  the  light  division. 
A  24-pounder  was  placed  across  the  narrow  gap  in  the 
ramparts;  the  stormers  leaped  over  it,  and  the  43d  and 
62d,  coming  up  in  sections  abreast,  followed.  The  43d 
wheeled  to  the  right  toward  the  great  breach,  the  52d  to 
the  left,  sweeping  the  ramparts  as  they  went. 

Meanwhile  the  other  two  attacks  had  broken  into  the 
town;  but  at  the  great  breach  the  dreadful  fight  still 
raged,  until  the  43d,  coming  swiftly  along  the  ramparts, 
and  brushing  all  opposition  aside,  took  the  defense  in  the 
rear.  The  British  there  had,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  at  that 
exact  moment  pierced  the  French  defense.  The  two  guns 
that  scourged  the  breach  had  wrought  deadly  havoc 
among  the  stormers,  and  a  sergeant  and  two  privates 
of  the  88th — Irishmen  all,  and  whose  names  deserve  to 
be  preserved — Brazel,  Kelly,  and  Swan — laid  down  their 
firelocks  that  they  might  climb  more  lightly,  and,  armed 
only  with  their  bayonets,  forced  themselves  through  the 
embrasure  among  the  French  gunners.  They  were  furi- 
ously attacked,  and  Swan's  arm  was  hewed  off  by  a 
saber  stroke;  but  they  stopped  the  service  of  the  gun, 
slew  five  or  six  of  the  French  gunners,  and  held  the  post 


MODERN  SPAIN.  191 

until  the  men  of  the  5th,  climbing  behind  them,  broke 
into  the  battery. 

So  Ciudad  Rodrigo  was  won,  and  its  governor  surren- 
dered his  sword  to  the  youthful  lieutenant  leading  the 
forlorn  hope  of  the  light  division,  who,  with  smoke-black- 
ened face,  torn  uniform,  and  staggering  from  a  dreadful 
wound,  still  kept  at  the  head  of  his  men. 

In  the  eleven  days  of  the  siege  Wellington  lost  one 
thousand  three  hundred  men  and  officers,  out  of  whom 
six  hundred  and  fifty  men  and  sixty  officers  were  struck 
down  on  the  slopes  of  the  breaches.  Two  notable  soldiers 
died  in  the  attack — Craufurd,  the  famous  leader  of  the 
light  division,  as  he  brought  his  men  up  to  the  lesser 
breach;  and  Mackinnon,  who  commanded  a  brigade  of 
the  third  division,  at  the  great  breach.  Mackinnon  was 
a  gallant  Highlander,  a  soldier  of  great  promise,  beloved 
by  his  men.  His  "children,"  as  he  called  them,  followed 
him  up  the  great  breach  till  the  bursting  of  a  French 
mine  destroyed  all  the  leading  files,  including  their  gen- 
eral. Craufurd  was  buried  in  the  lesser  breach  itself, 
and  Mackinnon  in  the  great  breach — fitting  graves  for 
soldiers  so  gallant. 

Alison  says  that  with  the  rush  of  the  English  storm- 
ers  up  the  breaches  of  Ciudad  Rodrigo  "began  the  fall  of 
the  French  empire."  That  siege,  so  fierce  and  brilliant, 
was,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  first  of  that  swift-following 
succession  of  strokes  which  drove  the  French  in  ruin  out 
of  Spain,  and  it  coincided  in  point  of  time  with  the  turn 
of  the  tide  against  Napoleon  in  Russia. 

But,  as  already  noted,  the  climax  of  the  war  occurred 

at  Vittoria.      Wellington,  overtaking  the   French   at  that 

9 


192  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

place,  inflicted  on  them  a  defeat  which  drove  in  utter 
rout  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  veteran  troops 
from  Spain.  There  is  no  more  brilliant  chapter  in  mili- 
tary history;  and,  at  its  close,  to  quote  Napier's  clarion- 
like  sentences,  "the  English  general,  emerging  from  the 
chaos  of  the  Peninsular  struggle,  stood  on  the  summit  of 
the  Pyrenees  a  recognized  conqueror.  From  those  lofty 
pinnacles  the  clangor  of  his  trumpets  pealed  clear  and 
loud,  and  the  splendor  of  his  genius  appeared  as  a  flam- 
ing beacon  to  warring  nations." 

The  victory  not  only  freed  Spain  from  its  invaders;  it 
restored  the  spirit  of  the  allies.  The  close  of  the  armis- 
tice was  followed  by  a  union  of  Austria  with  the  forces 
of  Prussia  and  the  Czar;  and  in  October  a  final  over- 
throw of  Napoleon  at  Leipzig  forced  the  French  army  to 
fall  back  in  rout  across  the  Rhine.  The  war  now  hur- 
ried to  its  close.  Though  held  at  bay  for  a  while  by  the 
sieges  of  San  Sebastian  and  Pampeluna,  as  well  as  by  an 
obstinate  defense  of  the  Pyrenees,  Wellington  succeeded 
in  the  very  month  of  the  triumph  at  Leipzig  in  winning 
a  victory  on  the  Bidassoa  which  enabled  him  to  enter 
France.  He  was  soon  followed  by  the  allies.  On  the 
last  day  of  1813  their  forces  crossed  the  Rhine;  and  a 
third  of  France  passed,  without  opposition,  into  their 
hands.  For  two  months  more  Napoleon  maintained  a 
wonderful  struggle  with  a  handful  of  raw  conscripts 
against  their  overwhelming  numbers;  while  in  the  south, 
Soult,  forced  from  his  intrenched  camp  near  Bayonne  and 
defeated  at  Orthes,  fell  back  before  "Wellington  on  Tou- 
louse. Here  their  two  armies  met  in  April  in  a  stubborn 
and  indecisive  engagement.  But  though  neither  leader 


MODERN   SPAIN.  193 

knew  it,  the  war  was  even  then  at  an  end.  The  strug- 
gle of  Napoleon  himself  had  ended  at  the  close  of  March 
with  the  surrender  of  Paris;  and  the  submission  of  the 
capital  was  at  once  followed  by  the  abdication  of  the  em- 
peror and  the  return  of  Ferdinand. 

After  the  convulsions  it  had  endured  Spain,  required 
a  period  of  firm  but  conciliatory  government;  but  the  ill- 
fate  of  the  country  gave  the  throne  at  this  crisis  to  the 
worst  of  her  Bourbon  kings.  Ferdinand  VII.  had  never 
possessed  the  good  qualities  which  popular  credulity  had 
assigned  to  him,  and  he  had  learned  nothing  in  his  four 
years'  captivity  except  an  aptitude  for  lying  and  intrigue. 
He  had  no  conception  of  the  duties  of  a  ruler;  his  public 
conduct  was  regulated  by  pride  and  superstition,  and  his 
private  life  was  stained  by  the  grossest  sensual  indul- 
gence. 

But  Spain  was  not  allowed  to  work  out  its  own  sal- 
vation. Europe  was  dominated  at  this  time  by  the  Holy 
Alliance,  which  disguised  a  resolution  to  repress  popular 
liberties  and  to  maintain  despotism  under  a  pretended 
zeal  for  piety,  justice  and  brotherly  love.  At  the  Con- 
gress of  Verona  (October,  1822),  France,  Austria,  Russia 
and  Prussia  agreed  upon  armed  intervention  in  Spain,  in 
spite  of  the  protest  of  Canning  on  the  part  of  England. 
Spain  was  to  be  called  upon  to  alter  her  constitution  and 
to  grant  greater  liberty  to  the  king,  and  if  an  unsatisfac- 
tory answer  were  received  France  was  authorized  to  take 
active  measures.  The  demand  was  unhesitatingly  refused, 
and  a  French  army,  100,000  strong,  at  once  entered  Spain 
under  the  Duke  of  Angouleme  (April,  1823).  No  effective 
resistance  was  made,  and  Madrid  was  entered  by  the  in- 


194  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

vaders  (May  23).  The  Cortes,  however,  had  carried  off 
the  king  to  Seville,  whence  they  again  retreated  to  Cadiz. 
The  bombardment  of  that  city  terminated  the  revolution 
and  Ferdinand  was  released  (October  1).  His  first  act 
was  to  revoke  everything  that  had  been  done  since  1819. 
The  Inquisition  was  not  restored,  but  the  secular  tribu- 
nals took  a  terrible  revenge  upon  the  leaders  of  the  re- 
bellion. The  protest  of  the  Duke  of  Angouleme  against 
these  cruelties  was  unheeded.  Even  the  fear  of  revolt, 
the  last  check  upon  despotism,  was  removed  by  the  pres- 
ence of  the  French  army,  which  remained  in  Spain  till 
1827.  But  Spain  had  to  pay  for  the  restoration  of  the 
royal  absolutism,  as  Canning  backed  up  his  protest  against 
the  intervention  of  France  by  acknowledging  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  Spanish  colonies. 

Ferdinand  VII.  was  enabled  to  finish  his  worthless 
and  disastrous  reign  in  comparative  peace.  In  1829  he 
married  a  fourth  wife,  Maria  Christina  of  Naples,  and 
at  the  same  time  he  issued  a  "Pragmatic  Sanction" 
abolishing  the  Salic  law  in  Spain.  No  one  expected  any 
practical  results  from  this  edict,  but  a  formal  protest  was 
made  against  it  by  the  king's  brothers,  Carlos  and  Fran- 
cisco, and  also  by  the  French  and  Neapolitan  Bourbons. 
In  the  next  year,  however,  the  queen  gave  birth  to  a 
daughter,  Isabella,  who  was  proclaimed  as  queen  on  her 
father's  death  in  1833,  while  her  mother  undertook  the 
office  of  regent.  Don  Carlos  at  once  asserted  his  inten- 
tion of  maintaining  the  Salic  law,  and  rallied  round  him 
all  the  supporters  of  absolutism,  especially  the  inhabitants 
of  the  Basque  Provinces.  Christina  was  compelled  to  rely 
upon  the  Liberals,  and  to  conciliate  them  by  the  grant 


MODERN  SPAIN.  195 

of  a  constitution,  the  estatuto  real,  which  established  two 
chambers  chosen  by  indirect  election.  But  this  constitu- 
tion, drawn  up  under  the  influence  of  Louis  Philippe  of 
France,  failed  to  satisfy  the  advanced  Liberals,  and  the 
Christinos  split  into  two  parties,  the  Moderados  and  Pro- 
gresistas.  In  1836  the  latter  party  extorted  from  the 
regent  the  revival  of  the  constitution  of  1812.  All  this 
time  the  government  was  involved  in  a  desperate  strug- 
gle with  the  Carlists,  who  at  first  gained  considerable 
successes  under  Zumalacarregui  and  Cabrera.  But  the 
death  of  Zumalacarregui  in  1835  and  the  support  of 
France  and  England  ultimately  gave  the  regent  the 
upper  hand,  and  in  1839  her  general,  Espartero,  forced 
the  Basque  Provinces  to  submit  to  Isabella.  Don  Carlos 
renounced  his  claims  in  favor  of  his  eldest  son,  another 
Carlos,  and  retired  to  Trieste,  where  he  died  in  1855. 
Christina  now  tried  to  sever  herself  from  the  Progresistas, 
and  to  govern  with  the  help  of  the  moderate  party  who 
enjoyed  the  patronage  of  Louis  Philippe.  But  England, 
jealous  of  French  influence  at  Madrid,  threw  the  weight 
of  her  influence  on  to  the  side  of  the  Radicals,  who  found 
a  powerful  leader  in  Espartero.  In  1840  Christina  had  to 
retire  to  France,  and  Espartero  was  recognized  as  regent 
by  the  Cortes.  But  his  elevation  was  resented  by  the 
other  officers,  while  his  subservience  to  England  made 
him  unpopular,  and  in  1843  he  also  had  to  go  into  exile. 
Isabella  was  now  declared  of  age.  Christina  returned  to 
Madrid,  and  the  Moderados  under  Narvaez  obtained  com- 
plete control  over  the  government.  This  was  a  great  vic- 
tory for  France,  and  Louis  Philippe  abused  his  success  by 
negotiating  the  infamous  "Spanish  marriages."  A  hus- 


196  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

band  was  found  for  Isabella  in  her  cousin,  Francis  of 
Assis,  whose  recommendation  in  French  eyes  was  the  im- 
probability of  his  begetting  children.  On  the  same  day 
the  queen's  sister,  Maria  Louisa,  was  married  to  Louis 
Philippe's  son,  the  Duke  of  Montpensier.  By  this  means 
it  was  hoped  to  secure  the  reversion  of  the  Spanish  throne 
for  the  House  of  Orleans.  The  scheme  recoiled  on  the 
heads  of  those  who  framed  it.  The  alienation  of  England 
gave  a  fatal  impulse  to  the  fall  of  Louis  Philippe,  while 
the  subsequent  birth  of  children  to  Isabella  deprived  the 
Montpensier  marriage  of  all  importance. 

Spanish  history  during  the  reign  of  Isabella  II.  pre- 
sents a  dismal  picture  of  faction  and  intrigue.  The 
queen  herself  sought  compensation  for  her  unhappy  mar- 
riage in  sensual  indulgence,  and  tried  to  cover  the  disso- 
luteness of  her  private  life  by  a  superstitious  devotion  to 
religion  and  by  throwing  her  influence  onto  the  side  of 
the  clerical  and  reactions!  party.  Every  now  and  then 
the  Progresistas  and  Moderados  forced  themselves  into 
office,  but  their  mutual  jealousy  prevented  them  from 
acquiring  any  permanent  hold  upon  the  government.  In 
1866  Isabella  was  induced  to  take  vigorous  measures 
against  the  Liberal  opposition.  Narvaez  was  appointed 
chief  minister;  and  the  most  prominent  Liberals,  Serrano, 
Prim  and  O'Donnell,  had  to  seek  safety  in  exile.  The 
Cortes  were  dissolved,  and  many  of  the  deputies  were 
transported  to  the  Canary  Islands.  The  ascendency  of  the 
court  party  was  maintained  by  a  rigorous  persecution, 
which  was  continued  after  Narvaez's  death  (April,  1868) 
by  Gonzales  Bravo.  Common  dangers  succeeded  at  last 
in  combining  the  various  sections  of  the  Liberals  for 


MODERN  SPAIN.  197 

mutual  defense,  and  the  people,  disgusted  by  the  scandals 
of  the  court  and  the  contemptible  camarilla  which  sur- 
rounded the  queen,  rallied  to  their  side.  In  September, 
1868,  Serrano  and  Prim  returned  to  Spain,  where  they 
raised  the  standard  of  revolt  and  offered  the  people  the 
bribe  of  universal  suffrage.  The  revolution  was  speedily 
accomplished  and  Isabella  fled  to  France,  but  the  suc- 
cessful rebels  were  at  once  confronted  with  the  difficulty 
of  finding  a  successor  for  her.  During  the  interregnum 
Serrano  undertook  the  regency  and  the  Cortes  drew  up  a 
new  constitution  by  which  an  hereditary  king  was  to 
rule  in  conjunction  with  a  senate  and  a  popular  cham- 
ber. As  no  one  of  the  Bourbon  candidates  for  the  throne 
was  acceptable,  it  became  necessary  to  look  around  for 
some  foreign  prince.  The  offer  of  the  crown  to  Leopold 
of  Hohenzollern  -  Sigmaringen  excited  the  jealousy  of 
France,  and  gave  Napoleon  III.  the  opportunity  of  pick- 
ing a  quarrel,  which  proved  fatal  to  himself,  with  the 
rising  state  of  Prussia.  At  last  a  king  was  found  (1870) 
in  Amadeus  of  Aosta,  the  second  son  of  Victor  Emman- 
uel, who  made  an  honest  effort  to  discharge  the  difficult 
office  of  a  constitutional  king  in  a  country  which  was 
hardly  fitted  for  constitutional  government.  But  he  found 
the  task  too  hard  and  too  distasteful,  and  resigned  in  1873. 
A  provisional  republic  was  now  formed,  of  which  Castelar 
was  the  guiding  spirit.  But  the  Spaniards,  trained  to  re- 
gard monarchy  with  superstitious  reverence,  had  no  sym- 
pathy with  republican  institutions.  Don  Carlos  seized  the 
opportunity  to  revive  the  claim  of  inalienable  male  suc- 
cession, and  raised  the  standard  of  revolt  in  the  Basque 
Provinces,  where  his  name  was  still  a  power.  The  dis- 


198  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

orders  of  the  democrats  and  the  approach  of  civil  war 
threw  the  responsibility  of  government  upon  the  army. 
The  Cortes  were  dissolved  by  a  military  coup  d'etat; 
Castelar  threw  up  his  office  in  disgust;  and  the  admin- 
istration was  undertaken  by  a  committee  of  officers.  An- 
archy was  suppressed  with  a  strong  hand,  but  it  was 
obvious  that  order  could  only  be  restored  by  reviving  the 
monarchy.  Foreign  princes  were  no  longer  thought  of, 
and  the  crown  was  offered  to  and  accepted  by  Alfonso 
XII.,  the  young  son  of  the  exiled  Isabella  (1874).  His 
first  task  was  to  terminate  the  Carlist  war,  which  still 
continued  in  the  north,  and  this  was  successfully  accom- 
plished in  1876.  Time  was  required  to  restore  the  pros- 
perity of  Spain  under  a  peaceful  and  orderly  government 
and  to  consolidate  by  prescription  the  authority  of  the  re- 
stored dynasty.  Unfortunately  a  premature  death  carried 
off  Alfonso  XII.  in  1885,  before  he  could  complete  the 
work  which  circumstances  laid  upon  him.  The  regency 
was  intrusted  to  his  widow,  Christina  of  Austria,  and  the 
birth  of  a  posthumous  son  (May  17,  1886),  who  is  now  the 
titular  king  of  Spain,  has  excited  a  feeling  of  pitying 
loyalty  which  may  help  to  secure  the  Bourbon  dynasty  in 
the  last  kingdom  which  is  left  to  it. 


CHAPTER  IX 
COLONIAL  SPAIF 

COLUMBUS  — SIGHTING    OF    SAN     SALVADOR  —  RETURN    OF 

COLUMBUS  — FOUNDING  OF  AN   EMPIRE  —  MEXICO  AND 

PERU— THE  WEST  INDIES— GERMS  OF  REBELLION 

IN  August,  1492,  Columbus  sailed  on  his  voyage  of 
discovery.  In  September,  1898,  his  remains  were  con- 
veyed from  the  New  World  to  the  Old.  Between  those 
two  dates  an  empire  rose  and  fell.  The  causes  which  led 
to  the  one  and  the  effects  which  precipitated  the  other 
may  now  be  conveniently  considered. 

In  earlier  years  Cadiz  was  a  famous  seaport.  Her 
sons  were  immemorial  explorers.  The  presentiment  of  a 
land  across  the  sea  was  theirs  by  intuition.  Constantly 
they  extended  their  expeditions,  and  would  have  extended 
them  still  further  had  not  the  Church  interfered.  The 
spirit  of  enterprise,  checked  as  heretical,  revived  cent- 
uries later  in  a  neighboring  land.  It  was  Portugal  that 
it  inspired.  There  the  work  of  exploration  and  discovery 
was  resumed.  The  island  of  Madeira  was  reached  in  1420, 
the  Azores  annexed  in  1431.  But  it  was  along  the  Afri- 
can coast  that  Portuguese  effort  was  mainly  directed. 
Tradition  asserted  that  the  entire  continent  had  been  cir- 
cumnavigated centuries  before  by  voyagers  from  Phoe- 
nicia; but,  as  no  details  were  recorded,  the  adventure  was 

(199) 


200  H1S1ORY   OF  SPAIN. 

regarded  as  something  more  than  dubious.  However, 
the  west  coast  began  now  to  be  systematically  explored. 
Nuno  Tristao  entered  the  Senegal  River  in  1445;  a  year 
later  Diniz  Dias,  a  fellow-navigator,  sailed  as  far  as  Cape 
Verd.  The  equator  was  not  crossed  until  1471,  the  Congo 
was  revealed  in  1484;  and  in  1486  the  crowning  feat  of 
all  was  accomplished,  when  Bartholomew  Diaz  rounded 
the  Stormy  Cape,  soon  to  become  known  as  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  and  opened  up  communication  with  the  East 
by  water,  instead  of  overland  or  by  the  indirect  route  of 
the  Red  Sea,  which  necessitated  the  transshipment  of  all 
merchandise  conveyed  that  way. 

The  expedition  to  the  west  which  Columbus  ultimately 
directed  was  conceived  by  him  in  1474,  and  unfolded  to 
John  II.,  king  of  Portugal,  by  whom,  however,  it  was 
rejected;  whereupon  Columbus  dispatched  his  brother  Bar- 
tholomew to  enter  into  negotiations  with  Henry  VII.  of 
England,  and  after  assuring  himself  that  neither  Genoa 
nor  Venice  were  likely  to  lend  him  a  willing  ear,  much 
less  ready  help,  he  repaired  to  the  south  of  Spain  in  1485. 

Had  Bartholomew  not  fallen  into  the  hands  of  pirates, 
and  so  been  prevented  from  reaching  his  destination  for 
several  years,  it  is  more  than  probable  that  the  credit  as 
well  as  the  profit  of  the  discovery  of  America  would  have 
fallen  at  once  to  England,  as  Henry  had  both  the  means 
and  the  inclination  to  indulge  in  some  such  venture,  pro- 
vided it  was  not  too  costly,  and  showed  any  reasonable 
prospect  of  success.  As  it  was,  Christopher  was  left  to 
pursue  his  pleadings  before  the  Spanish  Court. 

It  •  ras  an  unfortunate  time  to  put  forward  any  pro- 
posals calculated  to  divert  the  wealth  and  strength  of  the 


COLONIAL   SPAIN.  201 

kingdom  beyond  its  own  borders;  for  Ferdinand  and  Isa- 
bella were  then  in  the  very  midst  of  the  campaign  which 
ended  in  the  final  overthrow  of  the  Moorish  dominion  in 
the  Peninsula. 

Ultimately,  however,  after  the  fall  of  Granada  and 
eighteen  years  of  waiting,  his  proposals  were  accepted 
by  Isabella  and  his  hopes  realized.  A  royal  edict  con- 
stituted him  perpetual  and  hereditary  admiral  and  viceroy 
of  any  territories  discovered,  together  with  a  tenth  of 
any  profits  derived  therefrom.  With  this  edict  and  funds 
advanced  by  the  receiver  of  ecclesiastical  revenues,  Co- 
lumbus hastened  to  the  port  of  Palos.  There,  two  broth- 
ers by  the  name  of  Pinzon  aiding,  he  got  togjether  a  crew 
of  a  hundred  and  twenty  men,  a  scratch  armada  of  three 
leaky  tubs— the  "Santa  Maria,"  the  "Pinta"  and  the 
"Nina" — and,  on  the  3d  of  August,  1492,  weighed  anchor 
for  pastures  new. 

Columbus,  as  admiral  of  the  fleet,  commanded  the 
"Santa  Maria";  the  two  Pinzons,  Martin  Alonzo  and 
Vicente  Yanez,  the  "Pinta"  and  "Nina"  respectively. 
The  expressed  object  of  the  voyage  was  to  convert  the 
Grand  Khan,  supposed  to  be  the  great  potentate  of  the 
Far  East,  to  Christianity;  and  Columbus  never  doubted 
but  that  in  due  course  he  would  arrive  at  Japan,  or  Zi- 
pangu,  as  it  had  been  named  by  the  Venetian  explorer, 
Marco  Polo,  who  had  reached  it  by  an  overland  route 
more  than  a  century  before,  and  had  described  its  won- 
ders, together  with  those  of  Cathay  or  China,  through 
which  he  passed  on  his  way.  The  one  condition  imposed 
was,  that  the  squadron  should  not  touch  at  any  place  on 
the  African  continent,  claimed  to  be  under  Portuguese 


202  HISTORY   OF  SPAIN. 

jurisdiction,  as  that  would  have  led  to  immediate  hostili- 
ties between  the  two  countries. 

The  details  of  the  voyage  are  sufficiently  familiar  to 
dispense  with  narration  here.  It  will  suffice  to  note  that 
after  seventy  days  the  island  of  San  Salvador,  as  it  was 
then  named,  hove  in  sight;  that  on  the  28th  of  October, 
sixteen  days  later,  Cuba  was  discovered,  and  that  on  the 
6th  of  December  Hayti  was  reached. 

Several  circumstances  then  made  it  advisable  for  Co- 
lumbus to  return  to  Spain  without  further  delay.  He 
had  seen  enough  to  be  convinced  that  a  much  larger 
force  than  he  had  under  his  command  would  be  neces- 
sary to  make  the  subjugation  of  these  newly  acquired 
territories  effective;  news  of  the  discovery  might  reach 
Europe  before  him,  and  be  taken  advantage  of  by  some 
other  sovereign  than  the  one  to  whom  he  was  devoted; 
and  he  had  now  sufficient  treasure  of  various  kinds  to 
convince  the  most  skeptical  of  the  complete  success  of  his 
enterprise.  After  constructing  a  small  fort,  and  leaving 
a  portion  of  the  crew,  at  their  own  desire,  to  garrison  it 
until  he  should  return,  he  set  sail  for  home  with  the 
"Nina"  on  the  4th  of  January,  1493. 

Reaching  Palos  on  the  13th  of  March,  Columbus  was 
immediately  summoned  to  Barcelona,  where  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella  were  then  domiciled,  made  a  triumphal  entry 
into  the  city,  and,  on  his  arrival  at  the  royal  residence, 
was  welcomed  by  the  king  and  queen  in  person,  who  com- 
manded him  to  be  seated  by  their  side,  while  he  related 
the  account  of  his  adventures. 

Meanwhile  the  report  of  the  discovery  had  spread. 
Portugal  sought  to  take  advantage  of  it  through  the 


COLONIAL   SPAIN.  203 

theory  that  all  heathen  countries  were  in  the  gift  of  the 
Pope,  which  gift  a  Bull  had  already  confirmed.  But, 
Spain  protesting,  a  subsequent  Bull  confirmed  the  Portu- 
guese in  their  existing  possessions,  and  granted  them  all 
territory  that  should  be  discovered  east  of  a  line  drawn 
from  north  to  south,  one  hundred  leagues  west  of  the 
Azores,  while  the  Spaniards  were  to  enjoy  exclusive  do- 
minion over  everything  west  of  it. 

This  was  regarded  as  so  unsatisfactory  by  Portugal, 
that  at  its  instigation,  negotiations  between  the  two  coun- 
tries were  opened,  and  resulted  the  following  year  in  the 
conclusion  of  the  Treaty  of  Tordesillas,  by  which  it  was 
agreed  to  move  the  line  three  hundred  and  seventy 
leagues  west  of  the  Azores;  a  most  important  change, 
because  by  it  Portugal  subsequently  established  its  claim 
to  the  Brazils,  a  portion  of  which  was  found  to  fall  east 
of  the  line  of  demarcation,  while  it  could  urge  the  further 
plea  of  having  been  first  hi  the  field,  through  the  acci- 
dental deviation  of  Cabral.  At  any  rate,  the  whole  world 
outside  Europe  was  leased  in  perpetuity  to  Spam  and 
Portugal;  and  had  the  pretensions  of  the  Holy  See  in 
things  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual  continued  to  be  recog- 
nized, neither  England,  France,  nor  Germany  could  to- 
day own  a  square  yard  of  territory  in  the  three  greatest 
continents  of  the  world. 

While  the  negotiations  were  in  progress,  preparations 
for  a  second  expedition  on  a  vastly  greater  scale  were  rap- 
idly pushed  forward.  The  direction  of  them  was  intrusted 
to  a  cleric  named  Fonseca,  a  capable  man  of  business,  but 
who  for  some  reason  or  other  conceived  a  violent  dislike 
to  Columbus,  and  threw  every  obstacle  in  his  way.  The 


204  HISTORY    OF   SPAIN. 

eagerness  to  embark  on  this  second  voyage  was  far  more 
marked  than  the  reluctance  exhibited  in  the  first,  and  the 
best  blood  of  Spain  pressed  into  the  service.  The  number 
of  adventurers  was  originally  limited  to  a  thousand;  but 
the  applications  were  so  numerous,  from  those  who  be- 
lieved that"  fortunes  were  waiting  to  be  picked  up  in  the 
New  World,  that  this  was  raised  to  twelve  hundred,  and 
fifteen  hundred  actually  sailed  in  seventeen  vessels  from 
the  Bay  of  Cadiz  on  the  25th  of  September,  1493.  All 
was  keen  anticipation  during  the  voyage,  the  disappoint- 
ments only  commenced  at  its  termination. 

"Into  these,"  says  Mr.  R.  J.  Root,  whose  account  we 
quote,  "there  is  no  occasion  to  enter  now.  The  main  point 
of  interest  is,  that  a  sufficiently  large  force  of  Spaniards 
had  taken  part  in  the  enterprise  to  confirm  the  possession 
of  the  New  World  to  their  country,  and  defeat  any  at- 
tempts that  Portugal  might  be  likely  to  make  to  filch  it 
away.  After  establishing  a  settlement  at  Isabella  on  the 
north  of  Hayti,  or  Hispaniola,  as  it  was  then  named, 
Columbus  was  free  to  prosecute  further  explorations,  the 
principal  one  being  to  sail  along  the  southern  shores  of 
Cuba;  but,  after  continuing  his  voyage  to  within  a  few 
miles  of  its  western  extremity,  he  arrived  at  the  conclusion 
that  it  was  the  mainland,  and  reported  to  that  effect — nor 
was  it  until  after  his  death  that  it  was  proved  to  be  an 
island.  Everything  was  claimed  for  the  Spanish  crown; 
and,  as  there  were  absolutely  no  competitors,  it  can  well 
be  understood  how  the  entire  group  of  islands  constituting 
the  West  Indies  became  Spanish  colonies. 

"Various  causes  compelled  Columbus  to  relinquish  his 
exploration  and  return,  first  to  Hispaniola  and  then  to 


COLONIAL    SPAIN.  205 

Spain.  For  one  thing,  the  two  vessels  with  which  he  set 
sail  were  ill-provisioned.  With  that  confidence  in  his  own 
judgment  which  was  so  characteristic  of  the  man,  he  relied 
upon  encountering  at  no  great  distance  those  civilized,  or 
at  least  semi-civilized,  nations  of  which  he  had  come  in 
search,  but  instead  he  met  only  the  fierce  tribes  of  Cuba 
and  Jamaica,  who  offered  resistance,  not  welcome,  and 
arrows  in  lieu  of  food. 

"On  his  return  to  the  colony,  affairs  were  in  a  most 
unsatisfactory  condition.  The  last  thing  most  of  the  colo- 
nists dreamed  of  when  they  left  their  native  shores  was 
work.  They  had  gone  out,  as  they  fondly  imagined,  to 
pick  up  the  gold  as  it  lay  at  their  feet,  and  when  they 
had  accumulated  sufficient,  meant  to  return  and  enjoy  it. 
Though  Columbus  had  never  promised,  nor  even  suggested 
anything  of  the  sort,  his  brilliant  descriptions  and  antici- 
pations were  undoubtedly  responsible  for  the  ideas  so  freely 
indulged,  and  the  indignation  against  him  rose  just  as  rap- 
idly as  hopes  were  blasted.  Complaints  were  finding  their 
way  to  Spain,  and  lest  he  should  be  prejudiced  in  the  eyes 
of  his  sovereigns,  he  determined  to  embark  thence  and 
render  a  personal  account  of  his  stewardship. 

"The  voyage  home  was,  if  anything,  more  protracted, 
and  entailed  greater  hardships,  than  the  previous  one. 
Columbus  arrived  at  Cadiz  on  the  1st  June,  1496,  and 
met  with  a  warmer  reception  than  he  had  dared  to  hope 
for.  But  intrigue  was  busy,  and  his  arch-enemy  Fonseca, 
who  was  by  this  time  in  almost  undisputed  control  of  colo- 
nial affairs,  threw  numerous  and  persistent  obstacles  in 
the  way  of  his  fitting  out  another  expedition.  The  stories 
told  by  returned  colonists  of  the  want  and  suffering  they 


206  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

had  endured  were  not  conducive  to  others  volunteering  for 
the  service,  and  it  was  only  on  the  30th  May,  1498,  that 
the  admiral  was  again  able  to  set  sail  from  San  Lucar 
with  a  small  fleet  of  six  vessels,  manned  almost  entirely 
by  convicts  specially  released. 

"A  more  southerly  course  was  taken  than  on  either  of 
the  previous  occasions,  and  the  first  place  touched  was  the 
island  of  Trinidad.  '  Sailing  round  it  from  the  southwest, 
the  ships  were  suddenly  caught  and  swept  along  by  a 
mighty  current,  which  Columbus  discovered  to  be  of  fresh 
water,  and  rightly  judged  to  be  poured  out  of  some  vast 
river.  He  had,  in  fact,  reached  the  coast  of  South  Amer- 
ica, and  was  in  the  waters  of  the  Orinoco  as  they  rushed 
to  mingle  with  the  ocean.  The  natives  proved  of  a  more 
friendly  disposition  as  well  as  of  superior  type  to  those 
encountered  in  many  of  the  islands;  and  as  they  possessed 
gold,  and  also  something  still  more  precious,  pearls,  every 
encouragement  was  given  them  to  trade.  They  were  just 
as  eager  after  the  trumpery  toys  of  the  Old  World  as  the 
inhabitants  of  San  Salvador  had  been  the  first  time  they 
were  ever  exhibited  in  the  New,  and  we  may  be  sure  the 
bargains  made  were  very  profitable  to  the  Spaniards.  Still, 
these  were  not  the  people  Columbus  had  come  in  search  of, 
and  his  inquiries  and  labors  were  diligently  directed  to  the 
discovery  of  a  passage  which  should  lead  him  still  further 
west  to  the  dominions  of  the  Grand  Khan. 

"After  some  time  vainly  spent  in  exploring  the  coast 
with  this  object,  an  affection  of  the  eyes  compelled  him  to 
desist  and  make  once  more  for  Hispaniola,  where  he  had 
left  his  brother  Bartholomew  as  governor  during  his  ab- 
sence. A  strange  welcome  awaited  him,  however.  In 


COLONIAL   SPAIN.  207 

response  to  the  continued  complaints  of  the  colonists,  a 
commissioner  had  been  dispatched  from  Spain  to  inquire 
into  their  grievances,  and  certain  powers  were  intrusted 
to  him  to  assume  authority  in  the  island  in  case  of  neces- 
sity. Deeply  impressed  with  a  sense  of  his  own  impor- 
tance, Francisco  Bobadilla,  the  officer  appointed,  immedi- 
ately on  his  arrival  began  to  act  in  the  most  reckless  and 
arbitrary  manner;  and  the  discoverer  of  the  New  "World, 
without  any  warning,  found  himself  arrested,  loaded  with 
chains,  thrown  into  prison,  and  finally  sent  home  to  Spain 
in  this  ignominious  fashion. 

"Great  was  the  public,  still  greater  the  royal  indigna- 
tion, when  he  arrived  in  this  sorry  plight;  every  effort 
was  made  to  soothe  the  feelings  so  deeply  wounded  by  this 
dire  insult,  and  Bobadilla  would  have  paid  dearly  for  his 
temerity  had  he  survived  to  answer  for  his  misdeeds.  But 
news  had  reached  Spain  of  the  wonderful  riches  of  the 
Gulf  of  Paria  some  time  before  the  arrival  of  Columbus, 
and  the  malignant  and  untiring  Fonseca,  in  direct  contra- 
vention of  the  charter  conveying  the  rights  to  the  admiral, 
stimulated  private  enterprise  to  follow  in  the  track,  taking 
the  utmost  possible  advantage  of  whatever  information  he 
had  gained  in  his  official  capacity,  and  imparting  it  to 
others.  An  expedition  was  fitted  out  under  Alonso  de 
Ojeda,  one  of  the  most  dare-devil  adventurers  who  ever 
quitted  the  shores  of  his  own  or  any  other  country,  and 
whose  marvelous  exploits  in  Hispaniola  had  already  ex- 
cited the  wonder  and  admiration  of  men  long  accustomed 
to  feats  of  skill  and  courage.  Accompanying  him  was 
Amerigo  Vespucci,  a  Venetian  navigator,  who  strangely 
enough  was  destined  to  give  his  name  to  the  whole  of  the 


208  HISTORY    OF  SPAIN. 

vast  continent  which  he  was  about  to  visit  for  the  first 
time,  though  he  never  accomplished  anything  of  practical 
importance  in  it.  Several  other  ships  were  fitted  out,  in- 
cluding a  caravel  of  fifty  tons'  burden  by  Pedro  Alonso 
Nino,  which  performed  the  most  lucrative  voyage  of  any 
vessel  or  squadron  equipped  up  to  that  time,  and  returned 
home  well  freighted  with  pearls  and  other  costly  treasure. 
This  was  quite  sufficient  to  stimulate  ambition  as  well  as 
greed,  and  when  Columbus  arrived  he  had  the  mortifica- 
tion of  learning  that  others  were  actively  exploiting  his 
preserves. 

""While  these  events  were  happening,  another  enter- 
prise was  undertaken  quite  beyond  the  cognizance  of  the 
Spanish  authorities.  Bartholomew  Columbus,  it  will  be 
remembered,  had  proceeded  on  a  mission  to  Henry  VII. 
some  years  previous;  and  when  the  English  monarch 
learned  that  the  most  sanguine  anticipations  had  been 
realized,  he  was  anxious  to  share  in  the  results.  As 
early  as  1495  he  endeavored  to  equip  and  dispatch  a 
squadron  of  his  own,  but  it  was  not  until  two  years 
later  that  Sebastian  Cabot,  despite  the  existence  of  the 
Papal  Bull,  set  sail  from  Bristol.  Steering  a  direct  west- 
erly course,  he  struck  the  coast  of  Newfoundland,  and 
leisurely  sailed  south  almost  to  the  extreme  point  of  Flor- 
ida, ere  he  resumed  his  homeward  journey.  The  Spanish 
government  naturally  protested  against  this  infringement 
of  its  rights,  and  Henry  found  it  politic  to  listen,  as  he 
was  then  in  close  alliance,  and  engaged  in  negotiating 
the  marriage  between  his  son  and  Katharine  of  Aragon, 
which  subsequently  proved  so  pregnant  to  the  religious 
and  ecclesiastical  destinies  of  England.  It  was  at  a  later 


COLONIAL    SPAIN.  209 

period,  and  under  totally  different  circumstances,  that  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race  was  to  occupy  and  overrun  the  north- 
ern continent. 

"Columbus  himself  was  spared  to  undertake  one  more 
voyage,  and  this  tune  it  was  to  be  confined  exclusively 
to  the  continent,  he  being  absolutely  forbidden  to  land 
at  Hispaniola,  where  Nicolas  Ovando,  with  a  force  of  all 
sorts  and  conditions  of  men,  numbering  two  thousand  five 
hundred,  had  been  installed  as  governor;  and  so  jealous 
was  he  of  any  interference  with  his  prerogatives  that, 
when  the  admiral  was  driven  by  stress  of  weather  to 
take  shelter  in  the  harbor  of  San  Domingo,  he  was  or- 
dered to  quit  instantly. 

"This  proved  the  most  disastrous  of  all  his  voyages. 
After  exploring  the  coasts  of  Honduras  and  Central  Amer- 
ica generally,  in  search  of  the  non-existent  channel,  until 
the  provisions  were  in  such  a  state  that  they  could  only 
be  eaten  in  the  dark,  it  was  decided  to  land,  despite  the 
fierce  opposition  of  the  natives,  and  plant  a  permanent 
settlement  under  Bartholomew,  who  accompanied  his 
brother.  This,  however,  had  to  be  abandoned;  and  on 
the  way  back  the  only  remaining  vessel  ran  aground  in 
Dry  Harbor  in  Jamaica,  and  became  a  total  wreck,  the 
most  incredible  suffering,  aggravated  by  constant  mutiny, 
being  experienced,  until  the  remnant  of  the  crew  was 
eventually  relieved. 

"Columbus  having  shown  the  way  to  the  mainland, 
as  well  as  the  islands,  it  was  left  to  others  to  reveal  the 
vast  extent  and  natural  wealth  of  what  he  had  discov- 
ered, and  he  died  on  the  20th  May,  1506,  in  complete  ig- 
norance of  many  of  the  most  important  facts  which  his 


210  HISTORY    OF  SPAIN. 

genius  and  tenacity  permitted  to  be  made  known  for  the 
first  time  to  the  civilized  world. 

"Columbus  and  his  immediate  followers  hit  upon  the 
most  unpromising  part  of  the  American  Continent,  where 
the  damp,  hot  atmosphere,  with  its  resulting  rank  and 
profuse  vegetation,  makes  human  existence  intolerable  if 
not  wellnigh  impossible.  As  the  land  was  known  to  con- 
tain gold,  however,  the  most  persistent  efforts  were  made 
to  settle  in  it,  and  two  regular  governments  were  estab- 
lished under  Alonzo  de  Ojeda  and  Diego  de  Nicuessa  re- 
spectively. Nothing  but  disaster  resulted  for  many  a  long 
year,  and  the  greatest  difficulties  were  experienced  in  ex- 
tending or  enlarging  them  in  any  direction  but  coastwise. 

"Narrow  as  the  isthmus  is  in  the  part  selected,  it  ap- 
peared impenetrable,  until  eventually  the  magic  word  gold 
encouraged  a  few  bold  spirits  to  overcome  every  obstacle. 
Wherever  the  adventurers  went  inland  they  heard  of  a 
great  sea  and  vast  abundance  of  the  precious  metal  in  an 
unknown  land  beyond.  After  incredible  hardships,  Vasco 
Nunez  de  Balboa  and  a  handful  of  followers  forced  their 
way  through  the  thickets  and  swamps,  scaled  the  moun- 
tain range  which  runs  like  a  backbone  along  the  isthmus, 
and  were  rewarded  for  their  pains  when  they  reached  the 
summit  by  the  sight  of  the  great  southern  sea  lying  at 
their  feet.  This  occurred  on  the  26th  September,  1513, 
and  on  the  following  day  the  party  descended  the  west- 
ern slopes;  Vasco  Nunez,  as  its  leader  and  commander, 
taking  possession  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  on  behalf  of  the 
King  of  Spain,  with  all  the  ceremonies  and  formalities 
customary  on  those  occasions. 

"How  to  take  advantage  of  it  was  the  question?    Far 


COLONIAL    SPAIN.  211 

south,  beyond  where  vision  could  reach,  lay  the  golden 
land.  They  were  without  ships  or  means  of  conveyance 
of  any  sort,  and  the  shore  upon  which  they  were  now 
stranded  was  dangerous  as  well  as  inhospitable.  The  ob- 
servant and  ingenious  mind  of  Nunez,  inferior  only  to 
that  of  Columbus,  evolved  the  idea  of  transporting  mate- 
rial across  the  isthmus  for  the  construction  of  a  fleet  to 
undertake  the  subjugation  of  all  countries  bordering  on 
the  Southern  Sea;  and  such  was  the  work  eventually 
accomplished,  though  not  by  Nunez,  who  fell  a  victim 
to  the  jealousy  and  treachery  of  Pedrarias  Davila,  a  new 
governor  dispatched  from  Spain.  It  was  left  to  one  of 
his  lieutenants,  Francisco  Pizarro,  to  set  forth  on  a  defi- 
nite expedition  more  than  ten  years  later;  and  it  was  not 
until  nearly  twenty  years  had  elapsed  that  Peru  was  dis- 
covered, and  the  rich  kingdom  of  the  Incas  added  to  the 
spoils  of  the  Castilian  monarch. 

"Meanwhile,  exploration  had  been  busy  on  the  eastern 
side  of  the  continent.  Cuba,  realized  at  length  to  be  an 
island,  was  regularly  colonized  in  1511,  and  the  governor, 
Diego  Velasquez,  being  an  enterprising  and  ambitious 
man,  dispatched  an  expedition  westward.  The  great  pen- 
insula of  Yucatan  was  reached,  and  the  officers  of  the 
little  squadron  were  struck  by  the  much  higher  state  of 
civilization  exhibited  by  the  natives  than  by  any  others 
hitherto  met  with  either  in  the  islands  or  on  the  main- 
land. The  news  of  this  led  to  the  subsequent  expedition 
of  Cortes,  the  story  of  whose  conquest  of  Mexico  reads 
more  like  a  fairy  tale  than  the  narrative  of  actual  events 
and  hard  realities. 

"The  years  1519,  1520  and  1521  were  occupied  by  this, 


HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 


the  greatest  of  all  the  enterprises  undertaken  by  Spain  in 
the  New  World.  Nor  was  there  any  lack  of  activity  in 
other  directions.  Juan  Ponce  sailed  from  Porto  Eico 
in  1512,  in  search  of  a  spring  whose  waters  insured  per- 
ennial youth  to  whoever  drank  of  them,  and  found  and 
annexed  Florida  instead.  More  than  one  navigator 
cruised  southward  as  far  as  the  Rio  de  la  Plata,  and 
in  1520  Magellan  reached  the  extremity  of  the  southern 
continent,  and  passed  through  the  straits  which  bear  his 
name.  Nor  was  Cortes  idle  after  he  had  accomplished 
his  great  work.  North  and  south  he  sought  to  add  to 
the  territory  of  New  Spain,  until  all  the  countries  of  Cen- 
tral America  on  one  side,  and  the  peninsula  of  California 
on  the  other,  were  brought  under  its  sway.  In  less  than 
half  a  century  from  the  day  Columbus  first  set  foot  on 
San  Salvador,  the  entire  continent,  from  Labrador  to  Pata- 
gonia, had  been  visited,  and  by  far  the  greater  part  of  it 
annexed  to,  and  nominally  ruled  by,  the  Castilian  crown. 
"To  return,  however,  to  Hispaniola.  The  rapid  ex- 
haustion which  mismanagement  produced  there,  joined  to 
the  absence  of  gold,  led  to  the  creation  of  other  colonies. 
The  discovery  of  the  fisheries,  first  at  Paria,  and  then  in 
the  islands  of  the  Pacific,  opened  up  an  unexpected  source 
of  wealth;  but  it  was  not  until  Montezuma  offered  his 
munificent  gifts  to  Cortes,  to  induce  the  latter  to  quit  the 
shores  of  Mexico,  that  the  first  great  reservoir  of  the  pre- 
cious metals  was  tapped.  Still,  it  must  be  remembered 
that  the  great  stores  of  gold  discovered,  first  in  Mexico, 
and  subsequently  in  Peru,  did  not  in  themselves  imply 
that  these  countries  were  capable  of  continuing  to  produce 
unlimited  quantities.  They  were  the  accumulations  of 


COLONIAL    SPAIN.  213 

many  years,  possibly  of  many  centuries;  for,  as  there 
was  no  foreign  trade,  everything  produced  which  could 
not  be  consumed  had  necessarily  to  be  preserved  or  de- 
stroyed. 

"It  may  be  wondered  what  value  gold  possessed  in  the 
ideas  of  these  people.  That  it  was  held  in  nothing  like 
the  same  esteem  as  by  Europeans  is  certain;  but  in  Peru, 
at  any  rate,  its  production  and  preservation  were  assured, 
from  the  fact  that  it  was  regarded  as  tears  wept  by  the 
sun,  which  was  the  god  of  the  people,  whose  Incas,  or 
rulers,  were  called  the  Children  of  the  Sun.  In  neither 
case,  then,  is  it  surprising  that  the  treasure  was  not  clung 
to  with  more  tenacity.  Both  Montezuma  and  Atahualpa 
set  a  higher  value  upon  many  other  things ;  and  the  quan- 
tities seized  by  Cortes  and  Pizarro  and  their  respective  fol- 
lowers, vast  though  it  appeared  in  their  eyes,  and  as  it 
really  was  in  those  days,  was  parted  with,  with  scarcely 
a  pang  of  regret.  That  secured  by  Pizarro  was  by  far 
the  greater  spoil,  and  was  supposed  to  be  the  price  of  the 
freedom  of  the  Inca  himself,  who  offered  to  fill  a  room 
35  feet  by  17,  and  as  high  as  a  man  could  reach,  with 
gold  plate  in  exchange  for  it.  He  did  not  quite  succeed, 
because  Pizarro  treacherously  put  him  to  death  before  the 
task  was  completed,  yet  the  amount  realized  for  distribu- 
tion was  equivalent  to  something  like  three  and  a  half 
millions  sterling  ($17,500,000)  of  the  money  of  to-day,  and 
enriched  the  commonest  foot-soldier  beyond  the  dreams  of 
avarice. 

"It  was  silver,  not  gold,  moreover,  which  eventually 
made  both  countries  at  once  the  wonder  and  the  envy  of 
the  civilized  world.  The  richest  mines  were  unknown  to 


214  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

the  Indians,  having  only  been  discovered  after  the  Spanish 
conquest.  Those  of  Zacotecas  in  Mexico  were  first  worked 
in  1532,  while  the  more  famous  Potosi  lode  hi  Peru  was 
laid  bare  in  1545,  by  a  native  scrambling  up  the  side  of  a 
mountain  in  pursuit  of  some  llamas  which  had  strayed 
from  his  flock,  and  uprooting  the  shrubs  to  which  he  clung 
for  support. 

"In  the  West  Indies,  meanwhile,  the  larger  islands, 
like  Porto  Rico,  Cuba  and  Jamaica,  were  gradually  colo- 
nized, but  the  smaller  ones  were  left  alone;  it  can  well  be 
understood  that  in  the  absence  of  any  proved  deposits  of 
gold  they  were  scarcely  worth  attention,  and  it  was  suffi- 
cient to  keep  a  watch  over  them  to  defend  them  from  the 
incursions  of  other  nations.  With  the  conquest  of  Mexico, 
however,  the  center  of  gravity  was  moved  further  west, 
and  still  more  so  when  followed  by  that  of  Peru,  because 
the  only  known  route  from  the  latter  was  by  Panama  and 
across  the  isthmus. 

"These  territories  were  altogether  too  great  for  efficient 
oversight ;  that  of  Mexico  stretching  from  California  in  the 
north  to  Venezuela  in  the  south,  and  including  not  only 
the  West  Indies,  but  the  far  removed  Philippines,  while 
that  of  Lima  embraced  the  whole  of  South  America  both 
east  and  west  of  the  Andes.  The  great  territories  included 
in  the  present  Republics  of  Argentina,  Uruguay  and  Para- 
guay were  looked  upon  as  of  little  value,  as  they  contained 
neither  gold  nor  silver ;  and  as  every  attempt  made  to  set- 
tle them  only  seemed  to  end  in  failure,  little  attention  was 
given  to  their  affairs.  They  became,  indeed,  a  distinct 
source  of  loss  to  Spain,  as  they  were  found  useful  for  pur- 
poses of  contraband  trade;  and  eventually  the  gold  and 


COLONIAL   SPAIN.  215 

silver,  which  could  not  be  safely  smuggled  through  the 
ordinary  ports  of  shipment,  were  conveyed  across  the 
Andes  and  down  the  rivers  to  places  of  embarkation  on 
the  Amazon  or  Rio  de  la  Plata,  where  foreign  ships 
awaited  the  spoil  and  were  ready  to  barter  the  coveted 
produce  and  manufactures  of  Europe  in  exchange.  When 
these  two  viceroyalties  were  eventually  subdivided,  it  was 
not  into  east  and  west,  but  north  and  south,  and  New 
Granada  became  the  center  of  one;  while  the  territories 
now  included  in  the  United  States  were  separated  from 
Mexico,  and  constituted  the  other. 

"In  Spain  everybody,  from  the  king  in  his  palace  to 
the  peasant  in  his  hut,  regarded  the  colonies  simply  as 
a  source  of  revenue  and  profit  to  himself,  and  when  they 
ceased  to  be  this,  they  would  be  useless.  The  most  strin- 
gent regulations  were  adopted,  therefore,  against  trading 
or  even  communicating  among  themselves,  or  of  engag- 
ing in  any  industry,  manufacturing  or  agricultural,  which 
was  not  indigenous  to  the  country;  indeed,  Spain  insisted 
upon  supplying  everything  it  could  grow  or  make  which 
would  stand  the  sea  voyage,  at  its  own  price.  The  culti- 
vation of  neither  the  olive  nor  the  vine  was  permitted  in 
the  New  World,  and  severe  penalties  were  inflicted  upon 
any  one  who  had  the  temerity  to  disobey.  Peru  and  Chili, 
however,  were  specially  exempted,  owing  to  their  immense 
distance,  and  the  damaged  condition  in  which  liquids  gen- 
erally arrived  there,  but  they  were  not  allowed  to  export 
the  produce  to  any  neighboring  country,  and  must  con- 
sume it  themselves.  The  duties  of  the  colonists  were,  in 
fact,  strictly  limited  to  obtaining  as  much  gold  and  silver 

as  they  could,  while  the  Spaniards  at  home  were  to  take 

10 


216  HISTORY   OF  SPAIN. 

care  that  they  retained  as  little  of  it  as  possible.  For  all 
that,  many  fortunes  were  realized,  principally  by  bullion 
being  smuggled  out  of  the  country;  and  had  there  not 
been  some  such  inducement,  few  men  would  have  cared 
to  expatriate  themselves,  and  live  amid  such  uncomfor- 
table surroundings. 

"Precisely  similar  principles  were  observed  in  all  mat- 
ters relating  to  government.  Every  office  of  profit  under 
the  crown,  almost  every  emolument,  however  trivial,  was 
reserved  for  persons  of  pure  Spanish  birth.  As  a  conse- 
quence, the  official  class  was  migratory,  and  remained  in 
the  colonies  no  longer  than  was  necessary  to  accumulate 
a  fortune  or  a  competence,  according  to  the  taste  of  each 
individual  member  of  it.  Though  there  were  honest  and 
honorable  men  to  be  found  among  them,  notably  those 
filling  the  most  exalted  positions,  that  did  not  prevent 
the  vast  majority  from  preying  on  the  colonists,  many 
of  whom,  by  virtue  of  the  grants  of  territory  they  had 
received,  attained  to  great  influence  and  wealth.  Their 
descendants  were,  nevertheless,  debarred  from  all  partici- 
pation in  either  the  legislative  or  executive  functions  of 
government,  though  they  might  have  nothing  but  the 
purest  Spanish  blood  flowing  in  their  veins.  Nor  could 
they  become  dignitaries  of  the  Church  without  much  diffi- 
culty. In  the  days  when  the  Holy  See  found  it  politic  to 
be  on  good  terms  with  the  Spanish  sovereign,  the  whole 
ecclesiastical  patronage  of  the  New  World  was  vested  in 
him  and  his  successors;  and  though  many  Popes  endeav- 
ored to  get  this  privilege  back  into  their  own  hands,  they 
always  failed,  and  were  compelled  to  confirm  the  nomina- 
tions of  the  secular  ruler.  Both  Mexico  and  Peru  were 


COLONIAL    SPAIN.  217 

rapidly  overrun  with  clergy,  secular  as  well  as  regular, 
and  monastic  establishments  sprang  up  everywhere  like 
mushrooms,  yet  preferment  was  always  reserved  for  their 
brethren  in  Spain ;  and  out  of  nearly  four  hundred  bishops 
and  archbishops  consecrated  up  to  the  middle  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  scarce  a  dozen  were  taken  from  the  Span- 
ish-American community  known  as  Creoles. 

"A  system  so  rigid  is  bound  to  break.  Federation  is 
all  very  well  and  may  accomplish  much  that  is  beneficial 
to  all  concerned.  But  its  first  condition  is  elasticity,  so 
that  every  section  within  its  embrace  may  enjoy  full  free- 
dom of  expansion.  There  must  be  no  jealousies,  no  re- 
criminations, and,  above  everything,  no  attempts  to  get  all 
and  give  nothing.  These  conditions  are  possible  under  an 
arrangement  entered  into  freely  by  all  parties;  they  are 
unattainable  when  imposed  by  the  strong  upon  the  weak. 
That  is  why  Spain  never  won  the  gratitude  of  its  colonies, 
why  each  and  every  one  eagerly  seized  the  opportunity  of 
throwing  off  the  yoke,  and  fought  desperately  for  inde- 
pendence, and  why,  to-day,  her  colonial  power  is  ended." 


CHAPTER    X 

THE    FALL   OF   AN   EMPIRE 

THE  SUPREMACY  OF  SPAIN— ENCROACHMENTS  OF  OTHER 
NATIONS— CAUSES  WHICH  LED  TO  COLONIAL  REVOLT 
—BIRTH  OF  THE  SOUTH  AMERICAN  REPUBLICS— INSUR- 
RECTIONS IN  CUBA— ROBAMOS  TODOS 

THE  population  of  Hayti  at  the  advent  of  Columbus 
was  estimated  to  have  been  a  million,  yet,  before  many 
years  had  elapsed,  the  colonists  were  forcibly  depopulat- 
ing the  smaller  islands  to  provide  a  supply  of  labor  suffi- 
cient for  their  limited  requirements.  It  was  the  people 
of  the  mainland  who  might  have  been  expected  and  who 
actually  did  offer  the  stoutest  resistance.  No  more  won- 
derful campaign  is  recorded  in  military  history  than  that 
conducted  by  Cortes  against  the  Mexicans,  and  it  may  be 
doubted  whether  there  was  another  man  living  who  could 
have  carried  it  to  a  successful  issue. 

Conspicuous  as  a  general,  he  was  unmatched  as  a 
diplomatist,  whether  in  dealing  with  his  own  soldiers, 
his  allies,  or  his  enemies.  Who  else  in  that  age  would 
have  dreamed,  after  defeating  the  Tlascalans  against 
fearful  odds,  of  enlisting  them  against  their  deadly  foes 
the  Aztecs,  and  so  humoring  them  that  they  never 
swerved  in  their  loyalty?  Or  who  could  have  traded  on 
the  superstition  of  Montezuma,  so  as  to  gain  complete 
control  over  his  mind,  and  extract  his  treasures,  valued 
(21 8) 


THE   FALL    OF   AN    EMPIRE.  219 

at  something  like  seven  and  a  half  million  dollars,  with- 
out a  blow?  But  Montezuma  once  removed,  the  people, 
who  had  long  been  accustomed  to  render  him  an  unques- 
tioned obedience,  and  to  submit  themselves  to  his  slightest 
command,  were  free  to  follow  leaders  who  evinced  more 
spirit;  and  the  death  of  that  monarch  was  speedily  fol- 
lowed by  the  noche  iriste  with  all  its  attendant  horrors. 
To  be  captured  alive,  as  many  of  the  Spanish  soldiers 
were,  meant  the  most  terrible  of  all  ends,  for  they  were 
hurried  away  to  the  temples,  and  their  palpitating  hearts 
torn  from  their  living  bodies,  to  be  offered  as  a  propitia- 
tion to  the  national  deities.  Yet  even  this  did  not  dis- 
concert Cortes  and  his  brave  adherents,  who  began  im- 
mediately to  concert  another  plan  of  campaign.  The 
difficulties  they  had  first  encountered  were  as  nothing 
compared  to  those  they  had  still  to  face,  for  they  had  to 
deal  with  a  victorious  and  determined  foe,  instead  of  a 
beaten  and  depressed  one.  Every  obstacle,  however,  was 
overcome;  and  with  the  energetic  assistance  of  allies, 
who  little  dreamed  they  were  sealing  their  own  doom 
and  forever  sacrificing  their  independence,  the  powerful 
and  rich  kingdom  of  Mexico  was  finally  brought  into 
complete  subjection  to  the  Castilian  crown. 

Of  totally  different  and  vastly  inferior  fiber  was  the 
conqueror  of  Peru.  Pizarro  was  without  either  education 
or  address — a  rough,  ambitious,  and  avaricious  soldier. 
He,  too,  was  favored  by  internal  dissensions,  of  which 
he  could  not  possibly  have  known  anything  when  he  set 
forth  on  his  errand.  After  a  long  period  of  peaceful  and 
undisputed  sway,  the  Inca  dynasty  was  split  by  a  feud 
between  two  brothers,  one  of  whom,  Atahualpa,  had  just 


220  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

asserted  his  superiority  by  force  of  arms,  when  the  Eu- 
ropean conquerors  appeared  on  the  scene.  A  word  from 
him,  and  not  a  man  of  them  would  have  escaped  alive. 
But  at  the  critical  moment  an  unaccountable  paralysis 
overtook  him,  whether  or  not  arising  from  a  curiosity  to 
see  and  interview  the  strangers  it  is  impossible  to  say. 
He  realized  his  danger  too  late,  for  Pizarro,  imitating 
Cortes,  seized  the  person  of  the  Inca,  and  the  rest  was 
rendered  comparatively  easy.  Accustomed,  like  Monte- 
zuma,  to  exact  unqualified  obedience,  he  employed  his 
subjects  in  collecting  his  ransom  instead  of  fighting  for 
his  deliverance;  and  when  the  debt  was  almost  paid,  he 
found  himself  doomed  to  death  instead  of  released  from 
captivity.  The  forces  of  the  empire  were  then  scattered, 
and  without  a  leader  who  could  assume  full  authority. 
Still,  many  a  desperate  bid  was  subsequently  made  for 
freedom,  but  each  time  with  less  prospect  of  success,  as 
the  conquerors  secured  a  firmer  grip  upon  the  country, 
until  the  execution  of  Tapac  Amara,  the  last  direct  de- 
scendant of  the  Incas,  in  1571,  left  that  solitude  which 
Caesar  called  peace. 

But  after  all  it  was  not  the  opposition  of  the  Indians, 
whether  of  the  islands,  of  Mexico,  or  Peru,  that  proved 
the  greatest  danger  to  Spanish  sovereignty.  Enmity  to 
Columbus,  who  was  the  accredited  representative  of  the 
crown  and  legal  governor  of '  the  Indies,  did  not  neces- 
sarily infer  enmity  to  the  crown  itself;  indeed,  those  who 
rebelled  against  him  were  loud  in  their  protestations  of 
loyalty.  Nevertheless,  the  turbulent  factions  fought  for 
their  own  hand,  and  would  have  been  equally  opposed  to 
any  other  governor  who  sought  to  place  the  necessary 


THE   FALL    OF   AN   EMPIRE.  221 

restraint  upon  their  license.  By  permitting,  and  even 
compelling,  many  of  the  discontented  to  return  home,  as 
well  as  by  the  temporary  removal  of  Columbus  himself, 
something  like  quiet  was  restored;  but  it  is  more  than 
probable  that  had  not  the  colonists  been  largely  depend- 
ent upon  Spain  for  many  necessaries,  not  excluding  food, 
they  would  have  cut  themselves  adrift  and  refused  to 
submit  to  the  exactions  upon  their  industry,  or  rather 
upon  that  of  the  natives  from  which  they  profited.  More 
than  once  in  the  early  days,  the  home  government  had 
to  step  cautiously,  and  commissions  were  dispatched  to 
ascertain  where  the  grievances  lay,  and  if  possible  redress 
them.  They  were  mostly  connected  with  labor;  the  ma- 
jority of  the  clergy,  to  their  credit  be  it  said,  ranging 
themselves  on  the  side  of  humanity,  and  using  all  their 
influence  to  obtain  ordinances  favorable  to  the  natives. 
This  difficulty  was  smoothed  away  to  a  great  extent  by 
the  introduction  of  the  African  negro,  which  began  as 
early  as  the  year  1503. 

The  followers  of  Cortes  were  remarkably  loyal  to  him 
in  prosperity  and  adversity  alike;  and  though  for  a  long 
time  he  was  unaware  how  his  proceedings  would  be  re- 
ceived at  court,  he  remained  consistent  in  his  devotion  to 
his  sovereign.  His  dispatches  breathe  an  almost  effusive 
submission  to  their  will  and  interests,  and  only  his  ene- 
mies ever  laid  any  charges  against  him,  while  his  own 
actions  too  obviously  refuted  them.  It  was  only  when 
some  of  his  officers  were  removed  from  his  influence  and 
intrusted  with  commissions  of  their  own  that  they  thought 
of  kicking  over  the  traces,  and  then  it  invariably  hap- 
pened that  they  were  not  in  situations  where  any  great 


222  HISTORY   OF  SPAIN. 

harm  could  result.  Mexico  once  subdued,  long  rendered 
the  most  willing  obedience  of  any  of  the  colonies,  partly 
perhaps  because  under  the  direct  influence  of  good  and 
great  viceroys,  who  acted  both  with  intelligence  and  dis- 
cretion. 

It  was  far  otherwise  in  Peru,  where  the  duplicity  of 
Pizarro  in  excluding  Almagro  from  his  proper  share  in 
the  governorship  roused  the  suspicion,  then  the  ire,  and 
finally  the  opposition  of  that  honest  and  gallant  soldier. 
When  Pizarro  returned  from  his  visit  to  Spain,  he  was 
either  accompanied  or  immediately  followed  by  several  of 
his  brothers,  who,  among  them,  formed  a  family  compact 
for  the  protection  and  promotion  of  their  own  interests. 
To  rid  themselves  of  the  rivalry  of  Almagro,  they  ob- 
tained for  him  the  governorship  of  the  country  which 
now  comprises  the  Republic  of  Chili.  This,  however, 
had  still  to  be  conquered,  and  the  obstacles  which  pre- 
sented themselves  to  the  enterprise  appeared  so  insur- 
mountable that  Almagro  and  his  followers  abandoned  it 
and  returned  to  Cuzco,  the  rich  capital  of  Peru,  which, 
the  former  maintained,  fell  within  the  latitude  of  the  pa- 
tent granted  to  him.  This  assertion  was  naturally  con- 
tested by  the  Pizarros,  and  in  the  civil  war  that  followed 
both  Francisco  Pizarro,  the  eldest  and  foremost  of  the 
brothers,  and  Almagro  met  with  violent  deaths.  The  In- 
dians looked  on  with  amazement  at  this  strife  between 
the  white  men,  but  failed  to  profit  by  it.  Had  they 
shown  anything  like  the  energy  displayed  in  the  warfare 
among  themselves,  or  that  of  their  Mexican  brothers,  they 
must  inevitably  have  recaptured  their  kingdom,  which  it 
would  have  been  extremely  difficult  to  reconquer;  but  hav- 


THE   FALL    OF  AN  EMPIRE.  223 

ing  allowed  the  golden  opportunity  to  slip,  i*  never  again 
offered. 

But  the  most  serious  menace  to  the  supremacy  of  Spain 
in  the  New  World  occurred  shortly  after  the  promulga- 
tion of  the  edicts  of  Charles  V.  in  1542.  The  clauses  guar- 
anteeing the  Indians  their  freedom,  and  protecting  them 
against  undue  imposition,  either  of  taxation  or  forced 
labor,  were  so  obnoxious  to  the  colonists  that  something 
like  a  general  rising  was  threatened.  The  tact  of  the 
Mexican  viceroy  pacified  those  under  his  rule,  but  Peru 
experienced  the  full  force  of  an  armed  rebellion  with  all 
its  evil  consequences.  The  leader  in  this  instance  was 
Gonzales  Pizarro,  who  had  inherited  the  immense  estates 
conferred  upon  the  family  by  a  grateful  sovereign,  and 
who  now  undoubtedly  aimed  at  establishing  a  separate 
kingdom  with  himself  its  supreme  head.  Fortunately, 
the  right  man  was  again  sent  from  Spain  to  deal  effect- 
ively with  this  uprising,  and  though  a  cleric,  Vaca  de 
Castro  exhibited  the  skill  of  a  general  and  the  diplomacy 
of  a  statesman.  "With  the  execution  of  Gonzales,  the  last 
of  the  Pizarro  brothers,  peace  was  restored;  and  by  the 
middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  various  governments 
were  so  effectively  consolidated  that  not  for  upward  of  a 
hundred  and  fifty  years  did  any  revolt,  Indian  or  Creole, 
meet  with  more  than  temporary  success. 

It  was  far  otherwise  with  the  Philippines,  which  have 
never  been  free  for  any  length  of  time  from  disturbances 
of  some  kind.  No  effort  indeed  has  ever  been  made  to 
thoroughly  subdue  the  turbulent  natives;  and  there  is  no 
similar  extent  of  territory  under  the  control  of  a  European 
government,  about  which  so  little  is  known  regarding  its  nat- 


224  H1S1ORY   OF   SPAIN. 

ural  resources  and  mineral  wealth  as  the  important  islands 
of  Luzon  and  Mindanao,  which  embrace  half  the  total  area 
of  the  archipelago.  The  principal  ports  have  been  strongly 
fortified,  and  reliance  placed  upon  them  to  retain  posses- 
sion. The  immunities  enjoyed  by  the  natives  would,  un- 
der ordinary  circumstances,  offer  little  inducement  to  re- 
volt, but  unfortunately  the  Philippines  have  from  the  very 
first  been  particularly  subject  to  ecclesiastical  influence 
and  jurisdiction,  and  in  its  missionary  and  persecuting 
zeal  the  priesthood  has  made  itself  thoroughly  obnoxious. 
The  religious  orders  were  the  special  object  of  animosity 
in  the  latest  rising,  and  unless  they  are  either  suppressed 
or  placed  under  more  effective  political  control,  there  will 
be  little  prospect  of  peace  in  the  islands. 

In  an  epoch  when  most  of  the  nations  of  Europe  are 
struggling  to  add  to  their  territories  in  the  remotest  cor- 
ners of  the  earth,  it  seems  almost  incredible  that  four 
centuries  ago  a  single  one  of  them  should  have  been  per- 
mitted to  annex  a  whole  continent  unchallenged.  It  was 
not  so  much  the  Pope's  Bull  that  frightened  competitors 
away  as  the  fact  that  they  were  too  deeply  absorbed  in 
their  own  affairs.  The  importunity  of  Columbus  had  to 
wear  itself  nearly  out  before  the  fortunate  completion  of 
the  Moorish  conquest  won  it  a  more  ready  ear;  and  most 
other  countries  were  about  the  same  time  either  engaged 
in,  or  just  recovering  from,  some  similar  internecine  strife. 
Moreover,  it  was  the  energy  of  private  adventurers  rather 
than  of  the  Spanish  crown  which  won  for  the  latter  a  vast 
empire  beyond  the  seas ;  nor  was  it  until  its  value  became 
plainly  apparent  that  it  was  thought  worth  while  to  go  to 
any  great  amount  of  trouble  or  expense  in  its  development 


THE   FALL    OF   AN    EMPIRE.  225 

Similarly,  the  first  external  enemies  the  Spanish  colo- 
nies had  to  encounter  were  private  and  unattached  advent- 
urers. Piracy  was  an  institution  which  had  already  flour- 
ished for  many  centuries.  The  Barbary  corsairs  were  far 
more  feared  by  the  merchants  of  Venice  and  Genoa  than 
the  fiercest  storms  that  ever  visited  the  Mediterranean; 
and  they  had  their  counterpart  in  the  Baltic,  where  the 
Hanseatic  League  carried  on  so  extensive  a  commerce. 
It  was  only  to  be  expected  that  they  would  sally  forth 
from  their  inland  seas  when  so  much  more  valuable  spoil 
was  to  be  secured  on  the  open  ocean  beyond,  but  strange 
to  say,  with  the  rapid  decline  of  the  trade  which  they  had 
so  long  harried,  their  activity  slackened,  and  their  prin- 
ciples and  profession  were  largely  inherited  by  more  civil- 
ized races.  Some  excuse  was  offered  for  this  by  the  al- 
most constant  warfare  that  prevailed  during  the  reign  of 
Charles  V.,  when  France  and  Spain  were  at  perpetual 
enmity,  and  England  was  found,  first  on  one  side,  then 
on  the  other.  The  first  important  loss  that  befell  Spain 
was  the  capture  of  the  vessel  conveying  home  the  royal 
share  of  the  treasures  of  Mexico  by  a  French  privateer, 
or  pirate,  as  the  Spaniards  always  preferred  to  call  the 
ships  which  despoiled  their  fleets,  a  designation  that  was 
more  often  than  not  amply  justified. 

To  begin  with,  these  pirate  ships  were  content  to  hang 
about  the  Azores,  on  the  chance  of  meeting  a  caravel  laden 
with  treasure  homeward  bound.  They  gradually  ventured 
further  west,  until  they  actually  arrived  among  the  West 
Indian  Islands,  where  they  were  surprised  to  find  that 
altogether  undreamed-of  facilities  awaited  them  for  the 
pursuit  of  their  nefarious  trade.  Though  the  entire  archi- 


226  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

pelago  belonged  nominally  to  Spain,  only  the  larger  isl- 
ands were  actually  occupied,  the  smaller  not  being  re- 
garded as  worthy  of  attention,  until  the  Indian  population 
of  Hispaniola,  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico  began  to  fail,  and 
then  they  were  raided  for  their  inhabitants  to  supply  the 
vacant  places.  With  a  scanty  Spanish  population,  it  would 
have  been  utterly  impossible  to  fortify  and  inhabit  all,  even 
had  colonists  been  found  so  self-  denying  as  to  banish  them- 
selves to  places  where  the  only  chance  of  accumulating 
wealth  was  by  hard  work  and  steady  application  to  agri- 
cultural pursuits. 

For  a  long  time  these  scattered  islands  were  merely 
places  of  call,  where  fresh  water  and  fruit  could  be  ob- 
tained. No  attempt  was  made  at  annexation  in  the  name 
of  any  foreign  power,  and  it  would  have  been  folly  for 
any  ship's  company,  even  had  they  been  disposed  to  re- 
linquish their  buccaneering  career,  to  settle  down  and  defy 
the  Spanish  power,  whose  forces  would  quickly  have  been 
put  in  motion  to  expel  them. 

Two  events,  designed  by  Philip  II.  to  aggrandize  the 
power  of  Spain  at  the  expense  of  its  neighbors,  were  event- 
ually the  means  of  arousing  enmity  against  it  to  such  an 
extent  that  the  opposition  of  private  adventurers  was  sud- 
denly backed  up  by  the  full  weight  of  the  most  rapidly 
progressing  peoples  and  governments  in  the  Old  World. 

Many  previous  efforts  had  been  made  to  unite  the 
crowns  of  Spain  and  Portugal,  but  hitherto  all  had  failed. 
The  heroic  death  of  Sebastian,  however,  in  1580,  left  the 
throne  of  Portugal  without  a  direct  heir,  and  among  the 
numerous  claimants  was  Philip,  who  overreached  all  his 
competitors.  He  was  probably  even  then  meditating  that 


THE  FALL    OF  AN  EMPIRE.  227 

descent  upon  the  liberties  of  England  which  resulted,  eight 
years  later,  in  the  dispatch  of  the  renowned  Armada, 
and  the  writing  of  one  of  the  most  brilliant  pages  of  En- 
glish history.  Success  in  the  one  instance,  no  less  than 
failure  in  the  other,  created  the  most  deadly  foes  that 
Spain  ever  had  to  encounter,  until  the  persistent  antag- 
onism of  Holland  and  England  reduced  it  at  last  to  a 
miserable  shadow  of  its  former  self. 

Philip's  ruling  passion  was  an  intense  bigotry,  and 
from  the  moment  he  assumed  sway  in  Spain  and  the 
Low  Countries,  he  sought  to  exterminate  every  trace  of 
the  Reformed  faith.  That  brought  him  into  conflict  with 
the  Dutch,  whose  principal  port  and  city  of  Amsterdam 
was  fast  concentrating  within  itself  the  trade  that  Bruges 
and  Antwerp  had  once  commanded  as  the  principal  marts 
of  the  Hanseatic  League.  As  Portugal  extended  its  con- 
quests in  the  East,  Lisbon  displaced  Venice  and  Genoa, 
and  became  the  great  emporium  of  all  Eastern  produce, 
whence  Amsterdam  drew  its  supplies  for  distribution 
throughout  northern  Europe.  "With  the  object,  therefore, 
of  destroying  Dutch  trade,  Philip  closed  the  port  of  Lis- 
bon to  it  in  1594,  fondly  imagining  that  that  would  ruin 
his  rebellious  subjects,  and  enforce  submission  to  his  will. 

He  had  entirely  mistaken  Dutch  character,  however; 
for  in  the  following  year  the  services  were  enlisted  of 
Cornelius  Hautmann,  who  had  been  a  pilot  in  the  Portu- 
guese service;  and  he  conducted  the  first  Dutch  expedition 
round  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  on  its  way  to  open  up  a 
direct  trade  with  the  Spice  Islands  and  India,  which  of 
course  had  become  the  property  of  Spain  along  with  its 
own  Philippines.  Thus  modestly  was  laid  the  foundation 


228  HISTORY    OF  SPAIN. 

of  the  Dutch  Empire  in  the  East  Indies,  and  when  Portu- 
gal regained  its  freedom  in  1640,  under  the  House  of 
Braganza,  it  found  itself  stripped  of  most  of  its  former 
colonies,  which  were  never  to  be  restored. 

Not  content  merely  with  retaining  their  former  trade, 
the  Dutch  sought  to  extend  it  in  other  directions ;  and  the 
incorporation  of  their  East  India  Company  in  1602  was 
followed  by  that  of  the  West  India  Company  in  1621,  the 
operations  of  which  were  to  embrace  the  west  coast  of 
Africa  as  well  as  the  whole  of  Spanish  America,  in  which 
the  Brazils  had  then  to  be  included.  They  had  been  pre- 
ceded many  years  earlier  by  the  English,  who  commenced 
operations  in  good  earnest  some  time  before  the  date  of 
the  Armada;  indeed,  those  two  great  figures  in  English 
naval  history,  Sir  John  Hawkins  and  Sir  Francis  Drake, 
had  then  already  performed  their  greatest  exploits.  As 
early  as  1572,  the  latter  gave  a  good  account  of  himself 
on  the  Spanish  Main,  but  his  most  daring  feat  was  accom- 
plished in  1578,  when  he  sailed  through  the  Straits  of 
Magellan  and  appeared  off  the  coast  of  Peru.  Francisco 
Draques  was  the  terror  of  Spanish  America,  and  his  was 
the  name  used  to  frighten  Spanish-American  children 
when  they  were  naughty. 

A  new  danger  thus  became  apparent,  as  the  Spaniards 
had  never  dreamed  before  of  reaching  their  West  Coast 
possessions  by  the  southern  route.  Lest  other  foreign  ad- 
venturers should  follow  in  the  wake,  an  expedition  under 
Pedro  Sarmiento  was  dispatched  from  Chili  to  explore 
the  Straits  and  the  adjoining  territory,  with  the  view,  if 
practicable,  of  founding  a  strong  colony  and  erecting  sub- 
stantial fortifications.  Sarmiento's  zeal  outran  his  discre- 


THE   FALL    OF   AN   EMPIRE.  229 

tion,  and  after  accomplishing  his  task  he  sailed  for  Spain, 
where  he  gave  an  exaggerated  account,  not  only  of  the 
danger  of  leaving  the  Straits  unprotected,  but  of  the  ease 
with  which  they  could  be  rendered  impregnable  to  all  un- 
friendly visitors.  A  colony  consisting  of  about  four  hun- 
dred souls  was  actually  sent  out  in  1582,  though  from  the 
very  first  it  met  with  nothing  but  dire  misfortune. 

The  captain-general  commissioned  to  take  charge  of 
the  undertaking,  Diego  Flores,  disliked  the  job,  and  began 
by  chartering  the  worst  ships  he  could  find.  His  lieuten- 
ant, Sarmiento,  was  more  discreet  in  the  choice  of  the  em- 
bryo colonists,  most  of  whom  were  skilled  mechanics;  but 
the  fleet  had  scarcely  left  San  Lucar  on  the  outward  voy- 
age, when  half  of  them  were  shipwrecked  and  drowned. 
Though  replaced,  disaster  continued  to  follow  upon  dis- 
aster, the  voyage  being  very  much  a  repetition  of  the  pre- 
vious one  made  by  Magellan,  only  in  this  instance  the 
commander  was  himself  the  leading  obstructionist.  Event- 
ually, rather  more  than  two  hundred  souls  sailed  from 
the  Rio  de  la  Plata,  and  forty-five  of  these  were  drowned 
ere  the  Straits  were  reached.  All  but  eight  of  the  sur- 
vivors subsequently  perished,  and  the  last  of  them  was 
taken  off  in  1589  by  the  "Delight,"  commanded  by  Sir 
John  Cavendish,  who  appropriately  named  the  spot  where 
he  found  him  "Port  Famine." 

The  advent  of  the  English  and  Dutch,  followed  half  a 
century  later  by  the  French,  led  to  the  settlement  of  some 
of  the  unoccupied  islands.  They  rapidly  became  some- 
thing more  than  mere  provisioning  depots,  though  several 
of  them,  and  notably  the  island  of  Tortuga,  were  nothing 
else  than  the  lairs  of  desperate  crews  of  pirates,  as  reck- 


230  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

less  of  their  own  lives  as  of  those  who  were  unfortunate 
enough  to  fall  into  their  clutches.  But  Barbadoes  and  St. 
Christopher,  St.  Eustatius  and  Curagoa,  Martinique  and 
Guadalupe,  became  the  center  of  something  more  legiti- 
mate, if  quite  as  illegal,  as  sinking  galleons  and  purloin- 
ing their  treasure,  though  that  business  was  never  missed 
either  when  the  opportunity  presented  itself;  and  the 
Dutch  West  India  Company  alone  is  said  to  have  been 
responsible  for  the  capture  of  between  five  and  six  hun- 
dred Spanish  vessels. 

The  English  secured  their  first  foothold  in  the  neigh- 
borhood by  occupying  the  Bermudas  in  1621,  though  this 
hardly  brought  them  into  direct  contact  with  the  West 
Indies.  This  was  speedily  followed  by  settlements  in  some 
of  the  unoccupied  islands  further  south.  Barbadoes  was 
taken  possession  of  in  1625,  and  the  same  year  St.  Christo- 
pher, or  St.  Kitts,  as  it  is  now  called,  was  divided  between 
the  English  and  French.  The  former  continued  to  add  to 
their  territory,  taking  Nevis  in  1628,  Antigua  and  Mont- 
serrat  in  1632;  and  all  these  islands  are  so  essentially 
English,  as  to  prove  conclusively  that,  although  once 
nominally  owned  by  Spain,  Spanish  influence  was  never 
exerted  in  them. 

From  1650  until  the  period  of  his  death,  Oliver  Crom- 
well, having  established  his  authority  at  home,  pursued 
an  active  foreign  policy,  and  it  was  only  natural  that  he 
should  find  himself  in  conflict  with  Spain,  whose  maxims 
of  government,  both  civil  and  religious,  were  so  utterly  at 
variance  with  his.  Thus,  in  1654,  a  somewhat  formidable 
fleet,  under  the  command  of  the  admirals  Penn  and  Vena- 
bles,  sailed  for  Barbadoes,  where  they  would  be  ready  for 


THE   FALL    OF   AN   EMPIRE.  231 

any  emergency.  Early  the  following  year  they  made  a 
descent  upon  Hispaniola,  selecting  the  capital,  San  Do- 
mingo, as  the  object  of  attack.  On  the  approach  of  the 
ships,  the  inhabitants,  white  and  black  alike,  fled  inland, 
but  the  affair  was  sadly  mismanaged  and  somehow  mis- 
carried. Not  wishing  the  expedition  to  prove  a  complete 
failure,  the  admirals  set  sail  for  the  adjoining  island  of 
Jamaica,  which  did  not  then  contain,  at  the  outside,  more 
than  fifteen  hundred  whites,  and  perhaps  as  many  blacks. 
This  time,  no  difficulty  was  experienced,  and  the  island 
was  taken  formal  possession  of,  this  being  the  first  loss  of 
occupied  territory  inflicted  upon  Spain,  as  well  as  the  most 
important  acquisition  ever  made  in  the  West  Indies  by 
England.  In  1658  the  Spaniards  attempted  to  drive  the 
intruders  out  but  failed,  and  in  1670  a  treaty  was  entered 
into  between  the  two  countries,  in  which  Spain  recognized 
the  rights  of  England  both  in  Jamaica  and  the  smaller 
islands  of  which  possession  had  been  previously  taken. 

About  this  time,  also,  the  French  "West  India  Company 
was  incorporated,  the  brilliant  finance  minister  of  Louis 
XIV.,  Colbert,  not  liking  to  be  without  a  hand  in  the 
game.  He  began  in  a  more  legitimate  fashion  than  his 
competitors,  and  in  1664  purchased  the  rights  of  the  set- 
tlers in  Martinique,  Guadalupe,  St.  Lucia,  Grenada,  and 
a  few  other  islands  for  about  a  million  livres.  Spanish 
tyranny,  however,  afforded  an  excuse  for  more  high- 
handed proceedings,  and  the  company  secured  a  footing 
on  the  western  side  of  Hispaniola,  Spanish  interests  being 
concentrated  almost  entirely  on  the  eastern.  The  settle- 
ments so  established  became  little  more  than  a  rallying- 
point  and  shelter  for  buccaneers,  who,  in  consequence  of 


232  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

their  roving  habits,  were  difficult  to  eject,  until  eventually 
this  intermittent  occupation  of  a  portion  of  the  island  in- 
duced France  to  lay  claim  to  the  whole,  but  the  cession 
was  only  formally  recognized  by  Spain  more  than  a  cent- 
ury later.  Thus  the  four  predominant  powers  of  Europe 
all  had  a  stake  in  the  "Western  Hemisphere. 

Nearly  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  elapsed  without  wit- 
nessing any  further  important  changes.  The  very  vast- 
ness  of  the  Spanish-American  empire  was  its  principal 
protection.  Europe  was  growing  thoroughly  accustomed 
to  immense  armies,  but  they  could  only  be  moved  on  land, 
and  there  was  no  means  for  transporting  them  across  the 
sea.  What  chance  was  there  then  of  conquering  a  terri- 
tory which  extended  uninterruptedly  from  California  to 
Chili,  and  from  Florida  to  the  Rio  de  la  Plata,  even  had 
there  been  much  inclination?  The  idea,  it  is  true,  oc- 
curred more  than  once,  and  especially  in  1702,  when — the 
death  of  Charles  II.  of  Spain  having  brought  to  an  end 
the  Hapsburg  dynasty,  and  the  Wars  of  the  Spanish  Suc- 
cession being  entered  upon — an  alliance  was  formed  be- 
tween England,  Holland  and  the  German  Empire  for  the 
conquest  of  the  Spanish  colonies,  but  like  others  it  came 
to  nothing.  Again,  in  1739,  Spain,  alarmed  at  the  grow- 
ing contraband  trade,  insisted  very  justifiably  on  searching 
English  ships  in  American  waters,  but  this  was  resented 
and  led  to  war,  in  which  Porto  Bello  was  captured;  and 
that  had  something  to  do  with  the  permission  granted  a 
few  years  later  to  trade  by  the  longer,  but  safer  and  more 
convenient  route  round  Cape  Horn. 

Once  more,  in  1762,  what  was  known  as  the  Family 
Compact  involved  the  rest  of  Europe  in  hostilities  against 


THE   FALL    OF   AN   EMPIRE.  233 

the  Bourbon  dynasties  in  France,  Spain,  and  Italy,  and 
the  war  was  carried  both  to  the  East  and  West  Indies. 
Havana  and  Manila  were  captured  by  the  English,  and 
might  have  become  English  possessions,  had  not  the  Treaty 
of  Paris,  concluded  in  1763,  brought  the  campaign  to  an 
end,  and  made  it  a  condition  that  all  colonial  conquests 
were  to  be  restored  to  their  original  owners.  Minor  changes 
were  frequent  and  numerous,  but  they  were  generally  a 
mere  shuffling  of  the  cards  between  England,  Holland, 
and  France,  leaving  the  Spanish  possessions  much  as 
they  were. 

The  eighteenth  century,  as  it  drew  to  its  close,  found 
the  Spanish  occupation  of  America  almost  as  it  had  been 
in  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth.  Then  a  mighty  up- 
heaval was  witnessed  both  in  North  America  and  Europe, 
and  the  War  of  Independence  in  the  United  States,  to- 
gether with  the  French  Revolution,  provide  the  sequel 
for  what  followed  in  South  America.  Scarcely  a  mur- 
mur was  heard  in  the  principal  Spanish  colonies  while 
these  great  events  were  changing  the  destinies  of  the 
civilized  world,  and  an  onlooker  who  had  time  to  think 
must  have  been  astonished  at  their  apparent  loyalty  to 
the  mother  country,  oppressed  though  they  had  been,  and 
still  were,  while  everywhere  else  the  blow  for  freedom 
was  being  struck.  Perhaps  another  conclusion  might 
have  been  arrived  at;  namely,  that  the  ancient  Spanish 
stock  had  so  degenerated,  and  had  become  such  a  mean- 
spirited  race,  that  it  dare  not  act  like  its  neighbors  further 
north;  but  subsequent  events  disproved  this  hypothesis. 
The  Girondists  and  the  Mountain  rose  and  fell;  Napoleon 
became  successively  director,  dictator,  emperor  —  still  no 


234  HISTORY    OF   SPAIN. 

sign  of  movement.  Then  the  moment  arrived  for  the 
arch-disturber  of  Europe  to  overthrow  the  ancient  mon- 
archy of  Spain,  and  to  establish  a  brand-new  one  with  his 
brother  Joseph  at  its  head.  That  was  the  supreme  crisis 
to  make  a  move,  or  forever  to  remain  still.  Spain  almost 
to  a  man  resented  the  affront.  Spanish  America  joined 
the  mother  country,  and  refused  to  recognize  the  upstart 
dynasty. 

Still,  in  the  midst  of  this  death-like  calm,  some  pres- 
ages of  the  coming  storm  were  discernible.  In  the  first 
place,  France,  by  the  Treaty  of  Basle  in  1795,  secured  the 
cession  of  the  whole  of  Hispaniola,  only,  however,  in  a 
few  years  to  lose  it  again  by  its  declaration  of  independ- 
ence, and  the  formation  of  a  black  republic.  In  the  naval 
conflicts  so  frequent  during  that  disturbed  period  England 
both  lost  and  gained.  The  Dutch  and  Spanish  were  both 
unwilling  confederates  of  Napoleon,  but  their  connection 
with  him,  nevertheless,  exposed  their  foreign  possessions  to 
the  attack  of  his  declared  enemies;  and  England  captured 
Demerara  and  Essequibo  in  Guiana  from  the  former,  and 
the  island  of  Trinidad  from  the  latter.  All  these  were 
trivial  acquisitions,  compared  with  the  vast  extent  of  Mex- 
ico and  Central  America,  Peru,  and  New  Granada,  and 
the  eastern  province  of  Buenos  Ayres.  Brazil  had  re- 
verted to  Portugal  with  the  firm  establishment  of  the 
Braganza  dynasty,  and  was  nearly  all  there  was  left  of 
its  once  great  colonial  empire.  In  March,  1808,  the  ill 
fortune  of  the  royal  family  drove  them  from  their  own 
kingdom  to  find  refuge  beyond  the  seas,  and  Brazil  be- 
came an  independent  empire  under  the  fugitive  Portu- 
guese sovereign,  whose  descendants  remained  in  peaceable 


THE    FALL    OF    AN    EMPIRE,  235 

and  prosperous  possession  until  the  revolution  which  de- 
throned the  late  ill-fated  Dom  Pedro. 

These  changes  were  due  entirely  to  foreign  interven- 
tion and  not  to  domestic  unrest.  The  first  sign  of  this 
was  when  Francisco  Miranda,  a  Spanish- American  who 
had  fought  under  Washington,  conceived  the  idea  of  free- 
ing his  fellow-countrymen,  and  took  steps  toward  that 
end  by  founding  a  "Gran  Reunion  Americana"  in  London 
in  1806.  But  so  unresponsive  were  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Spanish  Main  that  the  first  active  movement  of  the  league 
resulted  in  dead  failure.  It  attracted  the  sympathy  and 
support,  however,  of  two  active  and  capable  men,  Bolivar 
and  San  Martin,  who  were  destined  to  do  so  much  for  the 
emancipation  of  South  America  from  European  bondage, 
and  whose  advent  brought  a  rapid  change  in  the  feeling 
of  indifference  with  which  the  movement  was  regarded. 

Still,  the  loyalty  of  the  colonists  might  have  been  proof 
against  their  blandishments  had  the  government  of  Fer- 
dinand VII.,  established  at  Cadiz  in  opposition  to  that  of 
Joseph  Bonaparte,  shown  itself  in  any  way  conciliatory 
toward  them.  Loyal  though  the  Spaniards  at  home  were 
to  the  Bourbon  dynasty,  they  were  only  willing  to  rally 
round  it  on  condition  of  the  carrying  out  of  many  impor- 
tant reforms  in  consonance  with  the  spirit  of  the  age ;  and 
the  colonists  likewise  demanded  that,  as  the  price  of  their 
adhesion,  they  should  be  put  upon  an  equality  with  Spain, 
and  be  accorded  perfect  liberty  in  their  agricultural  and 
manufacturing  industries;  that  trade  should  be  thrown 
open  between  all  the  countries  on  the  American  Continent 
and  with  the  Philippines;  and  that  all  restrictions  and 
monopolies  should  be  abolished,  and  fixed  duties  substi- 


236  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

tuted  in  their  place.  Reasonable  though  these  demands 
now  appear,  they  were  indignantly  rejected,  and  with  one 
consent  nearly  every  country  in  Spanish  America  was 
ablaze  with  revolution. 

One  of  the  earliest  outbreaks  was  in  Mexico,  the  near 
proximity  of  the  United  States  having  perhaps  inspired  in 
that  country  a  more  intense  longing  for  freedom  than  else- 
where. A  small  band  of  patriots  had  for  some  time  been 
watching  an  opportunity  for  asserting  themselves,  and 
with  Hidalgo  and  Allende  at  their  head,  took  the  ex- 
treme step  of  issuing  a  declaration  of  independence  on 
the  16th  of  September,  1810.  Spanish  influence  was  still 
strong,  and  in  less  than  a  year  the  outbreak  was  sup- 
pressed, and  the  leaders  executed.  Others  rose  to  take 
their  places,  and  just  three  years  after  the  declaration  of 
independence,  the  first  Mexican  Congress  was  summoned 
to  meet  at  the  town  of  Chilpantzongo,  which  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  insurgents.  Morelos,  the  principal  actor  at 
this  stage  of  the  drama,  was  captured  and  shot  in  Decem- 
ber, 1815 ;  but  that  only  imposed  a  temporary  check  on 
the  movement.  In  the  delusive  hope  of  regaining  full 
control,  Ferdinand,  then  firmly  re-established  on  his  throne, 
offered  concessions  in  1820,  but  it  was  too  late,  and  they 
failed  to  effect  a  pacification.  Independence  was  once 
more  declared  in  1821,  but  this  time  at  the  instigation  of 
a  dictator  who  aimed  at  founding  an  empire  for  himself, 
and  who  did  for  a  short  period  sway  the  destinies  of  his 
country  as  the  Emperor  Iturbide  I.  His  reign  was  brief, 
and  a  republic  was  definitely  established  on  the  16th  of  De 
cember,  1823,  the  subsequent  career  of  which  has  been  so 
checkered  until  quite  recent  times.  Having  been  recog- 


THE   FALL    OF   AN   EMPIRE.  237 

nized  by  the  principal  courts  of  Europe,  Spain  itself  ac- 
credited an  embassador  in  1839,  and  made  no  further 
efforts  to  reassert  its  former  title. 

Elsewhere  the  struggle  was  less  prolonged,  though, 
while  it  lasted,  quite  as  exciting.  At  the  instigation  of 
Bolivar,  Venezuela  proclaimed  its  independence  in  July, 
1811,  and  several  years  later  united  with  New  Granada 
as  the  Republic  of  Colombia.  Buenos  Ayres  established 
a  junta  in  1810,  a  Constituent  Assembly  was  called  in  Jan- 
uary, 1813,  and  entire  independence  of  Spain  was  declared, 
July,  1816.  The  insurrection  in  Chili  likewise  began  in 
1810,  when  a  National  Congress  was  summoned  to  meet 
at  Santiago;  but  the  Spanish  interest  was  strong  on  the 
west  coast,  and  it  was  not  until  San  Martin  crossed  the 
Andes  from  La  Plata  in  1817  that  independence  was  made 
good.  Material  assistance  was  afforded  by  the  famous 
Admiral  Cochrane  (Lord  Dundonald),  who,  driven  in  dis- 
grace from  his  native  country,  placed  his  services  at  the 
disposal  of  the  revolting  Chilians,  and  gave  them  that 
naval  pre-eminence  in  South  America  which  they  have 
ever  since  retained. 

Peru  proved  an'  even  tougher  job,  but  the  combined 
forces  of  San  Martin  and  Cochrane  proved  irresistible,  and 
both  Lima  and  Callao  were  taken  in  1821.  Lima,  how- 
ever, was  recaptured  by  the  Spaniards  in  1823,  but  Boli- 
var, marching  against  it  from  Colombia,  was  appointed 
dictator,  and  gained  so  decisive  a  victory  in  1824  that  the 
Spanish  army  was  forced  to  capitulate,  and  by  1826  the 
connection  with  the  mother  country  was  completely  and 
finally  severed.  Spain  had  vainly  striven  against  these 
successive  misfortunes,  and  in  1815  sent  out  a  consider- 


238  HISTORY   OF  SPAIN. 

able  force  under  Marshal  Morillo,  who  gained  a  few  tem- 
porary successes;  but  his  cruelties  and  atrocious  conduct 
only  exasperated  the  colonists,  and  instigated  them  to 
greater  exertions.  The  various  countries  of  Central  Amer- 
ica were  quietly  federated  into  the  Republic  of  Guatemala 
in  1823,  in  the  absence  of  any  Spanish  troops  to  oppose; 
and  thus,  from  the  northern  borders  of  Mexico  to  the 
southern  confines  of  Chili  and  La  Plata,  the  conquerors 
of  the  New  World  were  forever  ejected.  England  was 
the  first  to  recognize  the  South  American  republics,  and 
entered  into  commercial  treaties  with  several  of  them  in 
1825,  after  which  date  Spain  can  no  longer  be  said  to 
have  been  able  to  claim  ownership  of  a  single  acre  on  the 
American  Continent. 

Meanwhile  of  a  once  vast  colonial  empire  but  Cuba 
and  Porto  Rico  remained.  What  were  the  forces  at  work 
which  there  prevented  secession? 

The  political  economist  Mr.  R.  J.  Root,  to  whom  and  to 
whose  work  on  this  subject  we  are  already  much  indebted, 
states  that  the  conditions  were  different.  The  predomi- 
nant feature  of  the  islands  was  negro  slavery,  whereas 
the  wealth  of  the  Spanish- American  colonist  lay  in  lands 
which,  if  subject  to  alienation,  were  at  least  impossible  of 
removal.  The  Cuban  planter  reckoned  as  his  most  pre- 
cious possession  the  flesh  and  blood  attached  to  his  estates, 
and  the  very  words  "freedom"  and  "independence"  stank 
in  his  nostrils.  Whatever  inconvenience,  therefore,  he  suf- 
fered from  his  political  connection  with  an  effete  mon- 
archy and  a  decaying  or  decayed  empire,  he  at  least  felt 
that,  while  he  clung  to  it,  it  would  afford  him  protection 
for  his  property. 


THE   FALL    OF   AN   EMPIRE.  239 

A  steady  flood  of  immigration  from  the  mother  coun- 
try maintained  this  connection  down  to  the  recent  war. 
The  wealthiest  merchants  and  planters  have  invariably 
been  of  pure  Spanish  blood,  and  their  contempt  for  the 
Cuban  Creoles,  though  many  of  them  are  as  pure-blooded 
as  themselves,  and  have  no  taint  whatever  of  the  "tar- 
brush," has  helped  to  maintain  them  as  a  separate  class, 
regarded  as  intruders  by  all  of  Cuban  birth,  and  hated 
accordingly.  They  have  of  necessity  invoked  Spanish  aid 
and  relied  on  Spanish  authority,  and  have,  for  nearly  a 
hundred  years,  provided  the  basis  for  Spanish  rule  in  the 
island.  Many  of  them  made  their  fortunes  and  returned 
home,  leaving  room  for  others  to  follow.  Some  made 
Cuba  their  permanent  domicile,  but  invariably  with  fatal 
effects  upon  their  offspring,  for  Cuban  birth  is  almost 
synonymous  with  Cuban  sympathies,  and,  in  any  rising, 
the  father,  who  has  been  on  the  side  of  the  crown,  has 
witnessed  his  sons  throwing  in  their  lot  with  the  rebels. 

Ever  since  the  emancipation  of  the  Spanish  Main,  Cuba 
has  been  in  a  state  of  political  unrest.  Various  secret  so- 
cieties have  been  constituted,  and  have  received  advice 
and  assistance  from  Mexicans,  Chilians,  and  others  who 
had  already  succeeded  in  throwing  off  their  own  fetters. 
In  1823  the  Society  of  Soles  struck  a  blow  for  liberty;  six 
years  later  it  was  the  Company  of  the  Black  Eagle  which 
attempted  success  where  its  predecessor  had  failed.  Both 
were  essentially  Creole  risings,  and  although  those  who 
participated  in  them  freely  gave  expression  to  their  ab- 
horrence of  slavery,  no  assistance  was  either  asked  01 
received  from  the  negroes.  For  these  unfortunates,  how- 
ever, failure  meant  the  tightening  of  their  bonds;  and  it 

II 


240  H1S1ORY   OF   SPAIN. 

is  not  surprising  to  find  that,  in  1844,  goaded  to  despair 
by  their  sufferings,  they  tried  an  insurrection  on  their  own 
account,  though  of  course  it  ended  disastrously. 

These  outbreaks  were  all  more  or  less  localized,  and  it 
was  not  until  1868  that  a  revolution  broke  out,  destined 
to  involve  the  entire  island,  and  to  occupy  long  and  weary 
years  in  suppressing,  if,  indeed,  the  smoking  embers  can 
be  said  ever  to  have  been  quenched.  It  was  undoubtedly 
instigated  by  the  American  Civil  War,  which  had  ended 
in  the  uncompromising  abolition  of  slavery,  and  so  raised 
the  hopes  of  the  friends  of  liberty  in  Cuba.  Though  the 
planters  and  slave-owners  ranged  themselves,  as  was  nat- 
ural, on  the  side  of  law  and  order,  their  enthusiasm  was 
no  longer  of  the  keenest.  They  realized  that  the  institu- 
tion to  which  they  clung  so  tenaciously  was  doomed,  and 
it  became  a  question  with  them  of  doing  the  best  they 
could  for  themselves.  Emancipation  in  the  British  West 
Indies  had  for  a  time  added  enormously  to  their  prosper- 
ity, until  the  value  ot  slaves  underwent  so  great  an  ap- 
preciation that  it  no  longer  became  profitable  to  purchase 
them,  and  only  actual  owners"  derived  any  benefit.  For, 
it  must  be  remembered,  there  was  a  distinct  difference  be- 
tween the  slave-trade  and  slavery,  and  long  after  public 
opinion  revolted  against,  and  prohibited  the  kidnaping 
and  traffic  in  human  flesh,  it  continued  to  tolerate  its 
ownership,  and  recognized  natural  increase  as  legitimate 
property.  That  African  negroes  were  smuggled  into  Cuba 
is  tolerably  certain;  nevertheless,  the  numbers  were  too 
small  to  prevent  the  gradual  increase  in  value  of  an  able- 
bodied  male  slave  from  $250  to  something  like  $1,750  or 
$2,000.  This  was  the  surest  means  of  eventual  abolition; 


THE   FALL    OF  AN   EMPIRE.  241 

for  while  this  high  price  set  upon  the  black  made  him 
valuable  property,  and  insured  his  better  treatment,  it 
tended  to  make  the  luxury  too  costly,  and  one  that  could 
eventually  no  longer  be  indulged  in,  as  the  point  must  be 
reached  where  free  labor  would  become  cheaper. 

About  the  time  of  the  rebellion,  the  number  of  slaves 
in  Cuba  was  between  350,000  and  400,000,  and  their  value 
on  paper  was  simply  enormous.  The  $100,000,000  voted 
by  the  British  Parliament  as  compensation  to  the  disin- 
herited slave-owners  in  the  British  "West  Indies  would 
have  been  but  a  drop  in  the  ocean  in  any  scheme  for 
Cuban  emancipation  by  purchase.  Indeed,  to  do  the 
planters  justice,  they  never  expected  anything  of  the  sort, 
and  all  the  more  practical  of  them  asked,  was  to  be  let 
down  gently.  This  was  effected  by  the  proclamation  of 
what  was  known  as  the  Moret  Law  in  1870,  which  at 
once  declared  free  all  slaves  over  sixty  years  of  age,  and 
decreed  that  every  child  born  after  that  year  should  be 
free  likewise.  In  the  first  instance,  the  planters  registered 
a  distinct  gain,  as  they  got  rid  of  a  number  of  old  and  de- 
crepit dependents  no  longer  fit  for  work;  but  this  was  off- 
set by  the  compulsory  maintenance,  until  their  eighteenth 
year,  of  all  the  free  offspring  of  their  slaves.  Under  this 
law,  the  odious  institution  perished  in  something  like 
twenty  years,  because  its  burdens  gradually  outweighed 
its  benefits,  until  the  low  wage  for  which  the  free  negro 
is  willing  to  work  became  the  more  economical  method  of 
production. 

Thus  the  strongest  tie  between  Spain  and  Cuba  was 
snapped,  and  the  party  of  independence  gained  force,  as 
many  planters  found  no  longer  any  advantage  in  support- 


242  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

ing  the  authority  of  the  crown.  The  rebellion  dragged 
on;  the  Spanish  troops  continually  poured  in  having  to 
encounter  the  guerrilla  warfare,  for  which  the  division 
of  the  island  afforded  so  many  opportunities.  For,  con- 
siderable though  the  population  is,  two-thirds  of  it  has 
always  been  concentrated  in  the  western  corner,  of  which 
Havana  is  the  capital,  the  remaining  districts  being  very 
sparsely  peopled.  It  is  in  these  rebellion  always  throve; 
and  the  policy  adopted  by  General  Welyer,  when  in  su- 
preme command,  was  to  make  them  a  desert  by  destroy- 
ing all  sustenance,  and  forcibly  removing  the  inhabitants, 
who,  under  the  name  of  Reconcentrados,  aroused  so  much 
sympathy. 

Though  the  outbreak  of  1868  was  eventually  suppressed, 
it  left  a  legacy  of  bitter  memories  and  still  bitterer  ex- 
actions. For,  true  to  its  policy  of  four  centuries,  Spain 
determined  that  it  at  least  would  not  be  a  loser,  and  sad- 
dled the  entire  cost  of  the  military  operations,  and  nobody 
knows  what  else  besides,  on  the  unfortunate  island,  in  the 
form  of  a  debt  amounting  to  about  four  hundred  million 
dollars.  Even  this  might  have  been  tolerated  had  any 
attempt  been  made  to  establish  an  equitable  system  of 
government,  because  an  era  of  prosperity  set  in  which 
culminated  in  1891,  when  the  total  exports  were  valued  at 
no  less  than  $100,000,000,  and  there  was  ample  margin  for 
interest  on  an  inflated  debt.  But  the  rapacity  of  Catalan 
manufacturers,  no  less  than  of  government  officials,  upset 
everything;  and  from  the  captain-general  down  to  the 
humblest  trader  in  Barcelona,  all  expected  to  pocket  some- 
thing out  of  the  spoils  of  Cuba.  Nor  was  the  plunder  lim- 
ited to  Spaniards.  Despite  the  restrictions  against  trading 


THE   FALL    OF  AN  EMPIRE.  243 

by  foreigners,  adventurers  of  all  nationalities  managed  to 
get  a  foothold  in  Havana,  and  corruption  preyed  on  cor- 
ruption. No  one,  in  fact,  was  expected  to  be  honest,  and 
a  stranger  remarking  upon  the  rascality  prevailing  in  high 
places,  would  as  likely  as  not  be  met  with  a  shrug  of  the 
shoulders  and  the  reply,  Robamos  todos,  "We  are  all 
thieves." 


CHAPTER   XI 

THE    PHILIPPINES 

THE  FIRST  JOURNEY  ROUND  THE  WORLD  —  FERDINAND 
MAGELLAN  — THE  MOLUCCAS  — THE  ISLANDS  OF  THE 
PAINTED  FACES— MANILA  AND  THE  CHINESE  —  THE 
BRITISH  INVASION  —  SPANISH  RULE 

WHILE  Spain  was  actively  engaged  in  exploration  and 
annexation  in  the  west,  Portugal  was  equally  busy  in  the 
east.  Though  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  had  been  doubled 
by  Diaz  in  1486,  it  was  not  until  1497,  five  years  after  the 
discovery  of  America,  that  Vasco  da  Gama  proved  the  pos- 
sibility of  reaching  India  by  that  route.  Rapid  progress, 
for  those  days  at  any  rate,  was  made  from  that  time.  The 
actual  neighborhood  of  the  Cape  apparently  offered  no  at- 
tractions; the  advantages  of  its  situation  were  left  to  be 
realized  by  the  Dutch  a  century  later;  and  it  was  not  until 
Natal  was  reached  on  Christmas  day,  whence  its  name, 
that  there  were  any  thoughts  of  annexation  or  settlement. 
It  was  the  East  Coast  of  Africa  which  seemed  to  offer  the 
greatest  facilities  for  communication  and  trading  with  the 
opposite  shores  of  India,  and  claimed  attention  accord- 
ingly; and  as  numerous  pilots  were  to  be  found  there, 
skilled  in  navigating  vessels  across  the  Indian  Ocean,  it 
was  there  colonies  were  first  established,  one  of  which  at 
least,  and  the  only  important  one  remaining  to  Portugal, 
Lorenzo  Marques,  has  been  the  object  of  envy,  and  the 
source  of  much  contention  in  recent  years. 
(244) 


THE    PHILIPPINES  245 

From  the  Malabar  coast  in  the  south  to  Karachi  in  the 
north  of  India,  Portuguese  traders  grew  active,  but,  owing 
to  the  fierceness  and  determination  of  the  natives,  it  was 
found  impossible  for  some  years  to  permanently  occupy 
any  territory,  until  Goa  was  established  in  1510,  as  the 
center  of  Portuguese  interests.  A  year  earlier  than  this, 
Malacca  had  been  subjugated,  and  the  exploration  of 
Sumatra  undertaken;  while  three  years  later,  Francisco 
Serrao  discovered  the  Moluccas,  the  far-famed  islands  from 
which  Venice  and  Genoa  had  so  long  drawn  their  stores  of 
valuable  spices  by  the  overland  route  through  India  and 
Persia,  or  by  the  Red  Sea  and  Isthmus  of  Suez.  To  divert 
this  traffic  round  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  expeditions  were 
fitted  out  against  Muscat  and  Ormuz  in  the  Persian  Gulf, 
and  Aden  at  the  entrance  to  the  Red  Sea.  While,  then, 
the  Spanish  colonists  were  searching  for  gold  in  sufficient 
quantities  to  make  the  enterprise  pay,  much  less  realize 
fortunes,  the  Portuguese  tapped  the  source  of  wealth  of 
the  great  mercantile  communities  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and, 
monopolizing  it  themselves,  rendered  their  country  for  a 
time  the  richest  in  the  world. 

Of  the  numerous  governors  dispatched  by  Portugal  to 
the  east,  the  Duke  of  Albuquerque  was  the  most  active, 
and  accomplished  the  greatest  results.  Serving  under  him 
in  various  capacities  was  Ferrao  Magalhaes,  or  Maghal- 
lanes,  a  young  nobleman  who  sought  on  every  possible 
occasion  to  distinguish  himself.  Returning  home,  he  did 
not  receive  the  reward  he  considered  his  due ;  and  though 
he  continued  to  agitate  at  court,  and  to  urge  his  claims,  on 
the  further  ground  that  since  his  arrival  from  the  east  he 
had  taken  part  in  an  African  campaign  and  been  perma- 


246  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

nently  lamed,  he  was  either  repulsed  or  put  off  with  some 
trifling  concession.  This  rankling  in  his  mind,  he  deter- 
mined to  divest  himself  of  his  nationality,  and  offer  his 
services  to  Spam,  the  patron  of  all  foreign  adventurers. 

By  the  Papal  Bull,  Spain  was  debarred  from  under- 
taking any  enterprise  in  the  East.  This  was,  of  course, 
well  known  to  Magalhaes,  or  Ferdinand  Magellan,  as  he 
now  chose  to  call  himself,  but  he  had  carefully  thought 
the  matter  out,  and  arrived  at  a  conclusion  of  his  own. 
He  had  heard  much  of  the  ideas  which  led  to  the  dis- 
covery of  America,  and  though  other  and  more  important 
matters  then  engaged  the  attention  of  Spain  than  the  dis- 
covery of  Japan  and  China  by  the  western  route,  he  still 
considered  the  plan  feasible.  He  intimated  to  the  Emperor 
Charles  V.,  then  king  of  Spain,  his  desire  to  be  intrusted 
with  an  expedition,  with  which  he  would  undertake  to 
reach  the  Moluccas  from  the  west,  and  so  prove  that 
they  belonged  by  right  to  Spain. 

News  of  this  treachery  reached  Portugal,  where  it  was 
heard  with  the  greatest  indignation,  and  an  angry  corre- 
spondence passed  between  the  two  courts.  Charles's  ambi- 
tions, however,  lay  in  European  aggrandizement,  for  which 
the  demands  upon  his  exchequer  were  heavier  than  he  well 
knew  how  to  meet.  His  great  possessions  in  the  New 
"World  had  hitherto  been  a  drain  upon  his  scanty  re- 
sources, as  they  had  been  upon  those  of  his  grandfather 
before  him;  and  although  Ferdinand  lived  for  a  quarter 
of  a  century  after  the  discovery  of  America,  he  left  hardly 
sufficient  money  in  his  coffers  to  pay  his  funeral  expenses. 
Charles,  therefore,  listened  eagerly  to  the  proposition  by 
which  he  might  acquire  the  teeming  riches  of  the  Spice 


THE    PHILIPPINES  247 

Islands,  and,  notwithstanding  protests  and  warnings  alike, 
terms  were  finally  agreed  to  in  March,  1518,  which  placed 
five  ships,  and  a  full  complement  of  men,  at  the  disposal 
of  Magellan.  Failing  any  other  means  of  putting  an  end 
to  the  enterprise,  a  plot  was  formed  for  the  assassination 
of  Magellan,  but  miscarried;  and  he  weighed  anchor  on 
the  10th  of  August,  1519,  though  delayed  in  his  actual 
departure  until  the  20th  of  September  following. 

Instructions  were  sent  to  the  Brazils,  already  occupied 
by  Portugal,  to  waylay  Magellan,  and  at  all  costs  pre- 
vent the  continuance  of  his  voyage;  and  in  case  he  eluded 
the  vigilance  of  the  governor  of  that  settlement,  a  strict 
watch  was  to  .be  kept  at  the  Moluccas,  and  no  quarter 
given  him  if  he  ever  reached  there,  as  he  was  declared 
a  traitor  to  the  crown  of  Portugal.  He  arrived  at  the 
Rio  de  la  Plata  unmolested,  and  entered  that  river,  of 
great  width  at  its  mouth  and  for  some  distance  along  its 
course,  with  the  idea  that  it  offered  the  long-sought 
passage  to  the  West.  The  increasing  freshness  of  the 
water  convinced  him  that  it  was  but  a  river,  and  he  re- 
turned and  moved  his  course  southward.  And  now  his 
real  difficulties  began.  Winter  was  setting  in  with  all  its 
rigor,  and  the  further  south  he  proceeded  the  more  severe 
became  the  weather.  His  crew  was  most  cosmopolitan 
in  character  and  nationality,  and  included  a  number  of 
Portuguese,  some  of  whom,  it  began  to  be  suspected,  had 
been  bribed  to  mutiny,  if  not  indeed  to  murder  their  com- 
mander. Dissensions  broke  out  among  the  captains  of  the 
different  vessels  on  petty  points  of  precedence  and  disci- 
pline; and  only  the  most  determined  stand  by  Magellan 
himself,  who  did  not  hesitate  to  hang  several  of  the  crew 


248  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

as  an  example  to  the  rest,  prevented  the  total  ruin  of  his 
hopes  and  plans. 

To  make  matters  worse,  scarcity  of  provisions  began 
to  be  experienced,  and  it  was  then  decided  to  winter  in 
the  shelter  of  the  river  St.  Julian.  It  was  in  October, 
1520,  before  a  fresh  start  could  be  made,  and  on  the  21st 
of  that  month  a  channel  was  discovered,  the  careful  navi- 
gation of  which  for  thirty-eight  days,  amid  shoals  and 
innumerable  islands,  brought  them,  amid  great  rejoicing, 
once  more  into  the  open  sea,  proving  the  theory  main- 
tained by  Columbus  to  his  dying  day  to  be  so  far,  at  any 
rate,  correct. 

But  Magellan,  like  all  his  predecessors,  sadly  miscal- 
culated the  distance  between  the  remote  East  and  the  far 
West,  and  after  taking  in  such  supplies  of  provisions  as 
were  obtainable,  renewed  his  voyage  with  a  light  heart, 
and  in  full  expectation  of  reaching  land  in  a  week  or  two 
at  longest.  Days  grew  into  weeks,  and  the  weeks  passed 
into  months,  and  still  no  break  on  the  monotonous  hori- 
zon. The  sufferings  of  the  crew  were  horrible,  as  food 
and  water  became  gradually  exhausted,  and  they  had  to 
subsist  at  last  by  gnawing  anything  into  which  they  could 
get  their  teeth.  To  turn  back  was  certain  destruction, 
as  they  could  not  possibly  last  out  the  time  necessary  to 
cover  the  distance  already  traversed.  To  go  forward, 
therefore,  was  their  only  chance  of  salvation;  and  after 
a  passage  of  ninety-eight  days  land  was  sighted  on  March 
18,  and  the  most  dreaded  of  their  dangers  passed.  They 
had  sailed  into  a  group  of  islands,  not  the  Moluccas  as 
they  had  anticipated,  but  the  Islas  de  las  Pintados;  so 
called  from  the  custom  of  the  natives  of  painting  or  tat- 


THE  PHILIPPINES.  249 

tooing  their  naked  bodies,  and  subsequently  re-christened 
the  Philippines,  in  honor  of  the  heir  to  the  Spanish  throne, 
who  afterward  reigned  as  Philip  II. 

Magellan  was  not  destined  to  reap  the  fruits  of  his 
enterprise,  nor  to  suffer  the  punishment  subsequently  in- 
flicted on  some  of  the  survivors.  He  found  the  natives 
among  whom  he  first  landed  friendly  disposed,  but  rightly 
suspected  them  of  treachery.  Desirous,  however,  of  con- 
ciliating them  as  far  as  possible,  he  entered  into  their 
quarrel  with  a  tribe  in  a  neighboring  island,  and,  in  the 
attack  which  he  led  against  it,  was  slain. 

Disputes  arose  as  to  who  should  succeed  to  the  com- 
mand; and  what  was  left  of  the  fleet,  after  many  adven- 
tures and  the  loss  of  a  considerable  number  of  the  crew, 
arrived  at  the  island  of  Tidor  in  the  Moluccas  on  the  8th 
of  November,  1521.  There  it  was  decided  that  the  "Vic- 
toria" should  load  a  cargo  of  spices  and  make  its  way 
to  Spain  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  in  direct  defiance 
of  the  rights  of  the  Portuguese,  while  the  "Trinidad" 
should  return  the  way  she  came.  A  valuable  cargo,  con- 
sisting of  about  twenty-six  tons  of  cloves,  with  parcels 
of  cinnamon,  sandal  wood,  and  nutmegs,  was  shipped, 
and  after  being  nearly  captured  by  the  Portuguese  off 
the  African  coast,  and  again  at  the  Canaries,  arrived  in 
the  harbor  of  San  Lucar,  as  was  supposed,  on  the  6th  of 
September,  1522,  having  sailed  round  the  world  in  three 
years  all  but  a  few  days.  Through  all  their  troubles,  a 
careful  record  of  dates  had  been  kept,  and  the  officers 
were  surprised  to  find  that  what  they  imagined  to  be  the 
6th  was  actually  the  7th  of  September  in  Seville;  and  they 
were  at  a  loss  to  know  how  the  one  day  had  been  missed, 


250  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

being  of  course  unaware  that  this  is  the  invariable  result 
of  circumnavigating  the  world  from  East  to  West. 

Of  the  total  number  of  two  hundred  and  eighty  hands 
originally  shipped,  only  a  remnant  remained,  of  whom 
seventeen,  together  with  the  captain,  Juan  Sebastian 
Elcano,  were  on  board  the  "Victoria." 

The  city  of  Seville  received  them  with  acclamation; 
but  their  first  act  was  to  walk  barefooted,  in  procession, 
holding  lighted  candles  in  their  hands,  to  the  church,  to 
give  thanks  to  the  Almighty  for  their  safe  deliverance 
from  the  hundred  dangers  which  they  had  encountered. 
Clothes,  money,  and  all  necessaries  were  supplied  to  them 
by  royal  bounty,  and  Elcano  and  the  most  intelligent 
of  his  companions  were  cited  to  appear  at  court  to  nar- 
rate their  adventures.  His  Majesty  received  them  with 
marked  deference.  Elcano  was  rewarded  with  a  life  pen- 
sion of  five  hundred  ducats  (worth  at  that  date  about  five 
hundred  and  sixty  dollars),  and  as  a  lasting  remembrance 
of  his  unprecedented  feat,  his  royal  master  knighted  him 
and  conceded  to  him  the  right  of  using  on  his  escutcheon 
a  globe  bearing  the  motto:  "Primus  circundedit  me." 

Two  of  Elcano's  officers,  Miguel  de  Rodas  and  Fran- 
cisco Alva,  were  each  awarded  a  life  pension  of  fifty  thou- 
sand maravedis  (worth  at  that  time  about  seventy  dol- 
ars),  while  the  king  ordered  one-fourth  of  that  fifth  part 
of  the  cargo,  which  by  contract  with  Maghallanes  be- 
longed to  the  State  Treasury,  to  be  distributed  among  the 
crew,  including  those  imprisoned  in  Santiago  Island. 

Meanwhile  the  "Trinidad"  was  repaired  in  Tidor  and 
on  her  way  to  Panama,  when  continued  tempests  and  the 
horrible  sufferings  of  the  crew  determined  them  to  retrace 


THE    PHILIPPINES.  251 

their  course  to  the  Moluccas.  In  this  interval  Portuguese 
ships  had  arrived  there,  and  a  fort  was  being  constructed 
to  defend  Portuguese  interests  against  the  Spaniards, 
whom  they  regarded  as  interlopers.  The  "Trinidad"  was 
seized,  and  the  captain,  Espinosa,  with  the  survivors  of 
his  crew,  were  afforded  a  passage  to  Lisbon,  which  place 
they  reached  five  years  after  they  had  set  out  with  Mag- 
fa  all  anes. 

The  enthusiasm  of  King  Charles  was  equal  to  the  im- 
portance of  the  discoveries  which  gave  renown  to  his  sub- 
jects and  added  glory  to  his  crown.  Notwithstanding  a 
protracted  controversy  with  the  Portuguese  court,  which 
claimed  the  exclusive  right  of  trading  with  the  Spice  Isl- 
ands, he  ordered  another  squadron  of  six  ships  to  be  fitted 
out  for  a  voyage  to  the  Moluccas.  The  supreme  command 
was  confided  to  Garcia  Yofre  de  Loaisa,  Knight  of  St. 
John,  while  Sebastian  Elcano  was  appointed  captain  of 
one  of  the  vessels.  After  passing  through  the  Magellan 
Straits,  the  commander,  Loaisa,  succumbed  to  the  fatigues 
and  privations  of  the  stormy  voyage.  Elcano  succeeded 
him,  but  only  for  four  days,  when  he  too  expired.  The 
expedition,  however,  arrived  safely  at  the  Molucca  Isl- 
ands, where  they  found  the  Portuguese  in  full  possession 
and  strongly  established;  but  the  long  series  of  combats, 
struggles  and  altercations  which  ensued  between  the  rival 
powers,  in  which  Captain  Andres  do  Urdaneta  prominently 
figured,  left  no  decisive  advantage  to  either  nation. 

But  the  king  was  in  no  way  disheartened.  A  third  ex- 
pedition— the  last  under  his  auspices — was  organized  and 
dispatched  from  the  Pacific  coast  of  Mexico  by  the  vice- 
roy* by  royal  mandate.  It  was  composed  of  two  ships, 


252  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

two  transports  and  one  galley,  well  manned  and  armed, 
chosen  from  the  fleet  of  Pedro  Alvarado,  late  governor  of 
Guatemala.  Under  the  leadership  of  Ruy  Lopez  de  Vil- 
lalobos  it  sailed  on  the  1st  of  November,  1542;  discovered 
many  small  islands  in  the  Pacific;  lost  the  galley  on  the 
way,  and  anchored  off  an  island  about  twenty  miles  in  cir- 
cumference, which  was  named  Antonia.  They  found  its 
inhabitants  very  hostile.  A  fight  ensued,  but  the  natives 
finally  fled,  leaving  several  Spaniards  wounded,  of  whom 
six  died.  Villalobos  then  announced  his  intention  of  re- 
maining here  some  time,  and  ordered  his  men  to  plant 
maize.  At  first  they  demurred,  saying  that  they  had 
come  to  fight,  not  to  till  land,  but  at  length  necessity 
urged  them  to  obedience,  and  a  small  but  insufficient  crop 
was  reaped  in  due  season.  Hard  pressed  for  food,  they 
lived  principally  on  cats,  rats,  lizards,  snakes,  dogs,  roots 
and  wild  fruit,  and  several  died  of  disease.  In  this  plight 
a  ship  was  sent  to  Mindanao  Island,  commanded  by  Ber- 
nado  de  la  Torre,  to  seek  provisions.  The  voyage  was 
fruitless.  The  party  was  opposed  by  the  inhabitants,  who 
fortified  themselves,  but  were  dislodged  and  slain.  Then 
a  vessel  was  commissioned  to  Mexico  with  news  and  to 
solicit  re-enforcements.  On  the  way,  Volcano  Island  (of 
the  Ladrone  Islands  group)  was  discovered  on  the  6th 
of  August,  1543.  A  most  important  event  followed.  A 
galiot  was  built  and  dispatched  to  the  islands  (it  is 
doubtful  which),  named  by  this  expedition  the  Philip- 
pine Islands  in  honor  of  Philip,  prince  of  Asturias,  the 
son  of  King  Charles  I.,  heir  apparent  to  the  throne  of 
Castile,  to  which  he  ascended  in  1555  under  the  title  of 
Philip  II.,  on  the  abdication  of  his  father. 


THE  PHILIPPINES.  253 

The  craft  returned  from  the  Philippine  Islands  laden 
with  abundance  of  provisions,  with  which  the  ships  were 
enabled  to  continue  the  voyage. 

By  the  royal  instructions,  Ruy  Lopez  de  Villalobos 
was  strictly  enjoined  not  to  touch  at  the  Moluccas  Isl- 
ands, peace  having  been  concluded  with  Portugal.  Heavy 
gales  forced  him,  nevertheless,  to  take  refuge  at  Gilolo. 
The  Portuguese,  suspicious  of  his  intentions  in  view  of 
the  treaty,  arrayed  their  forces  against  his,  inciting  the 
king  of  the  island  also  to  discard  all  Spanish  overtures 
and  refuse  assistance  to  Villalobos.  The  discord  and  con- 
tentions between  the  Portuguese  and  Spaniards  were  in- 
creasing; nothing  was  being  gained  by  either  party.  Villa- 
lobos personally  was  sorely  disheartened  in  the  struggle, 
fearing  all  the  while  that  his  opposition  to  the  Portuguese 
in  contravention  of  the  royal  instructions  would  only  ex- 
cite the  king's  displeasure  and  lead  to  his  own  downfall. 
Hence  he  decided  to  capitulate  with  his  rival  and  accepted 
a  safe  conduct  for  himself  and  party  to  Europe  in  Por- 
tuguese ships.  They  arrived  at  Amboina  Island,  where 
Villalobos,  already  crushed  by  grief,  succumbed  to  dis- 
ease. The  survivors  of  the  expedition,  among  whom  were 
several  priests,  continued  the  journey  home  via  Malacca, 
Cochin-China  and  Goa,  where  they  embarked  for  Lisbon, 
arriving  there  in  1549. 

In  1558,  King  Charles  was  no  more,  but  the  memory 
of  his  ambition  outlived  him.  His  son  Philip,  equally 
emulous  and  unscrupulous,  was  too  narrow-minded  and 
subtly  cautious  to  initiate  an  expensive  enterprise  encom- 
passed by  so  many  hazards — as  materially  unproductive 
as  it  was  devoid  of  immediate  political  importance.  la- 


254  HISTORY    OF   SPAIN. 

deed  the  basis  of  the  first  expedition  was  merely  to  dis- 
cover a  western  route  to  the  rich  Spice  Islands,  already 
known  to  exist;  the  second  went  there  to  attempt  to  es- 
tablish Spanish  empire;  and  the  third  to  search  for  and 
annex  to  the  Spanish  crown  lands  as  wealthy  as  those 
claimed  by  and  now  yielded  to  the  Portuguese. 

But  the  value  of  the  Philippine  Islands,  of  which  the 
possession  was  but  recent  and  nominal,  was  thus  far  a 
matter  of  doubt. 

One  of  the  most  brave  and  intrepid  captains  of  the 
Loaisa  expedition  —  Andres  de  Urdaneta  —  returned  to 
Spain  in  1536.  In  former  years  he  had  fought  under 
King  Charles  L,  in  his  wars  in  Italy,  when  the  study  of 
navigation  served  him  as  a  favorite  pastime.  Since  his 
return  from  the  Moluccas  his  constant  attention  was  given 
to  the  project  of  a  new  expedition  to  the  Far  "West,  for 
which  he  unremittingly  solicited  the  royal  sanction  and 
assistance.  But  the  king  had  grown  old  and  weary  of 
the  world,  and,  while  he  did  not  openly  discourage  Urda- 
neta's  pretensions,  he  gave  him  no  effective  aid.  At  length 
in  1553,  two  years  before  Charles  abdicated,  Urdaneta, 
convinced  of  the  futility  of  his  importunity  at  the  Spanish 
court,  and  equally  unsuccessful  with  his  scheme  in  other 
quarters,  retired  to  Mexico,  where  he  took  the  habit  of  an 
Augustine  monk.  Ten  years  afterward  King  Philip,  in- 
spired by  the  religious  sentiment  which  pervaded  his  whole 
policy,  urged  his  viceroy  in  Mexico  to  fit  out  an  expedition 
to  conquer  and  Christianize  the  Philippine  Islands.  Urda- 
neta, now  a  priest,  was  not  overlooked.  Accompanied  by 
five  priests  of  his  order,  he  was  intrusted  with  the  spirit- 
ual care  of  the  races  to  be  subdued  by  an  expedition  com- 


THE  PHILIPPINES.  255 

posed  of  four  ships  and  one  frigate  well  armed,  carrying 
four  hundred  soldiers  and  sailors,  commanded  by  a  Basque 
navigator,  Miguel  Lopez  de  Legaspi.  This  remarkable 
man  was  destined  to  acquire  the  fame  of  having  estab- 
lished Spanish  dominion  in  these  islands.  He  was  of  noble 
birth  and  a  native  of  the  province  of  Guipuzcoa  in  Spain. 
Having  settled  in  the  City  of  Mexico,  of  which  place  he 
was  elected  mayor,  he  there  practiced  as  a  notary.  Of 
undoubted  piety,  he  enjoyed  a  reputation  for  his  justice 
and  loyalty,  hence  he  was  appointed  general  of  the  forces 
equipped  for  the  voyage. 

The  favorite  desire  to  possess  the  valuable  Spice  Isl- 
ands still  lurked  in  the  minds  of  many  Spaniards — among 
them  was  Urdaneta,  who  labored  in  vain  to  persuade  the 
viceroy  of  the  superior  advantages  to  be  gained  by  annex- 
ing New  Guinea  instead  of  the  Philippines — whence  the 
conquest  of  the  Moluccas  would  be  but  a  facile  task. 
However,  the  viceroy  was  inexorable  and  resolved  to  ful- 
fill the  royal  instructions  to  the  letter,  so  the  expedition 
set  sail  from  the  Mexican  port  of  Navidad  for  the  Philip- 
pine Islands  on  the  21st  of  November,  1564. 

The  Ladrone  Islands  were  passed  on  the  9th  of  January, 
1565,  and  on  the  13th  of  the  following  month  the  Philip- 
pines were  sighted.  A  call  for  provisions  was  made  at 
several  small  islands,  including  Camiguin,  whence  the  ex- 
pedition sailed  to  Bojol  Island.  A  boat  dispatched  to  the 
port  of  Butuan  returned  in  a  fortnight  with  the  news  that 
there  was  much  gold,  wax  and  cinnamon  in  that  district. 
A  small  vessel  was  also  sent  to  Cebu,  and  on  its  return 
reported  that  the  natives  showed  hostility,  having  decapi- 
tated one  of  the  crew  while  he  was  bathing. 


256  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

Nevertheless,  General  Legaspi  resolved  to  put  in  at 
Cebu,  which  was  a  safe  port;  and  on  the  way  there  the 
ships  anchored  off  Limasana  Island  (to  the  south  of  Leyte) . 
Thence,  running  S.W.,  the  port  of  Dapitan  (Mindanao  Isl- 
and) was  reached. 

Prince  Pagbuaya,  who  ruled  there,  was  astonished  at 
the  sight  of  such  formidable  ships,  and  commissioned  one  of 
his  subjects,  specially  chosen  for  his  boldness,  to  take  note 
of  their  movements  and  report  to  him.  His  account  was 
uncommonly  interesting.  He  related  that  enormous  men 
with  long  pointed  noses,  dressed  in  fine  robes,  ate  stones 
(hard  biscuits),  drank  fire  and  blew  smoke  out  of  their 
mouths  and  through  their  nostrils.  Their  power  was  such 
that  they  commanded  thunder  and  lightning  (discharge  of 
artillery),  and  that  at  meal  times  they  sat  down  at  a 
clothed  table.  From  their  lofty  port,  their  bearded  faces 
and  rich  attire,  they  might  have  been  the  very  gods  mani- 
festing themselves  to  the  natives ;  so  the  prince  thought  it 
wise  to  accept  the  friendly  overtures  of  such  marvelous 
strangers.  Besides  obtaining  ample  provisions  in  barter 
for  European  wares,  Legaspi  procured  from  this  chieftain 
much  useful  information  respecting  the  condition  of  Cebu. 
He  learned  that  it  was  esteemed  a  powerful  kingdom,  of 
which  the  magnificence  was  much  vaunted  among  the 
neighboring  states;  that  the  port  was  one  of  great  safety 
and  the  most  favorably  situated  among  the  islands  of  the 
painted  faces. 

The  general  resolved  therefore  to  filch  it  from  its  na- 
tive king  and  annex  it  to  the  crown  of  Castile. 

He  landed  in  Cebu  on  the  27th  of  April,  1565,  and 
negotiations  were  entered  into  with  the  natives  of  that 


THE   PHILIPPINES.  257 

island.  Remembering  how  successfully  they  had  rid  them- 
selves of  Maghallanes'  party,  they  naturally  opposed  this 
renewed  menace  to  their  independence.  The  Spaniards 
occupied  the  town  by  force  and  sacked  it,  but  for  months 
were  so  harassed  by  the  surrounding  tribes  that  a  council 
was  convened  to  discuss  the  prudence  of  continuing  the 
occupation.  The  general  decided  to  remain,  and,  little  by 
little,  the  natives  yielded  to  the  new  condition  of  things, 
and  thus  the  first  step  toward  the  final  conquest  was 
achieved.  The  natives  were  declared  Spanish  subjects, 
and  hopeful  with  the  success  thus  far  attained,  Legaspi 
determined  to  send  dispatches  to  the  king  by  the  priest 
Urdaneta,  who  safely  arrived  at  Navidad  on  the  3d  of 
October,  1565,  and  proceeded  thence  to  Spain. 

The  pacification  of  Cebu  and  the  adjacent  islands  was 
steadily  and  successfully  pursued  by  Legaspi ;  the  confi- 
dence of  the  natives  was  assured,  and  their  dethroned 
king  Tupas  accepted  Christian  baptism,  while  his  daugh- 
ter married  a  Spaniard. 

In  the  midst  of  the  invaders'  felicity,  the  Portuguese 
arrived  to  dispute  the  possession,  but  they  were  compelled 
to  retire.  A  fortress  was  constructed  and  plots  of  land 
were  marked  out  for  the  building  of  the  Spanish  settlers' 
residences,  and  finally,  in  1570,  Cebu  was  declared  a  city, 
after  Legaspi  had  received  from  his  royal  master  the  title 
of  governor-general  of  all  the  lands  which  he  might  be 
able  to  conquer. 

In  May,  1570,  Captain  Juan  Salcedo,  Legaspi's  grand- 
son, was  dispatched  to  the  Island  of  Luzon  to  reconnoiter 
the  territory  and  bring  it  under  Spanish  dominion. 

The  history  of  these  early  times  is  very  confused,  and 


258  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

there  are  many  contradictions  in  the  authors  of  the  Philip- 
pine chronicles,  none  of  which  seem  to  have  been  written 
contemporaneously  with  the  first  events.  It  appears,  how- 
ever, that  Martin  de  Goiti  and  a  few  soldiers  accompanied 
Salcedo  to  the  north.  They  were  well  received  by  the 
native  chiefs  or  petty  kings  Lacandola,  rajah  of  Tondo 
(known  as  Rajah  Matanda,  which  means  in  native  dialect 
the  aged  rajah),  and  his  nephew,  the  young  Rajah  Soli- 
man  of  Manila. 

The  sight  of  a  body  of  European  troops,  armed  as  was 
the  custom  in  the  sixteenth  century,  must  have  profoundly 
impressed  and  overawed  these  chieftains,  otherwise  it  seems 
almost  incredible  that  they  should  have  consented,  without 
protest,  or  attempt  at  resistance,  to  (forever)  give  up  their 
territory,  yield  their  independence,  pay  tribute,*  and  be- 

'  Legaspi  and  Guido  Lavezares,  under  oath,  made  prom- 
ises of  rewards  to  the  Lacandola  family  and  a  remission  of 
tribute  in  perpetuity,  but  they  were  not  fulfilled.  In  the 
following  century — year  1660 — it  appears  that  the  descend- 
ants of  the  rajah  Lacandola  still  upheld  the  Spanish  au- 
thority, and  having  become  sorely  impoverished  thereby, 
the  heir  of  the  family  petitioned  the  governor  (Sabiniano 
Manrique  de  Lara)  to  make  good  the  honor  of  his  first  pre- 
decessors. Eventually  the  Lacandolas  were  exempted  from 
the  payment  of  tribute  and  poll  tax  forever,  as  recompense 
for  the  filching  of  their  domains. 

In  1884,  when  the  fiscal  reforms  were  introduced  which 
abolished  the  tribute  and  established  in  lieu  thereof  a  docu- 
ment of  personal  identity  (cedula  personal),  for  which  a  tax 
is  levied,  the  last  vestige  of  privilege  disappeared. 

Descendants  of  Lacandola  are  still  to  be  met  with  in  sev- 
eral villages  near  Manila.  They  do  not  seem  to  have  mate- 
rially profited  by  their  transcendent  ancestry — one  of  them 
was  serving  as  a  waiter  in  a  French  restaurant  in  the  capi- 
tal in  1885. 


THE  PHILIPPINES.  259 

come  the  tools  of  invading  foreigners  with  which  to  con- 
quer their  own  race,  without  recompense  whatsoever. 

A  treaty  of  peace  was  signed  and  ratified  by  an  ex- 
change of  drops  of  blood  between  the  parties  thereto.  Soli- 
man,  however,  soon  repented  of  his  poltroonery,  and  raised 
the  war  cry  among  some  of  his  tribes.  To  save  his  capital 
(then  called  Maynila)  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  invad- 
ers he  set  fire  to  it.  Lacandola  remained  passively  watch- 
ing the  issue.  Soliman  was  completely  routed  by  Salcedo, 
and  pardoned  on  his  again  swearing  fealty  to  the  King  of 
Spain.  Goiti  remained  in  the  vicinity  of  Manila  with  his 
troops,  while  Salcedo  fought  his  way  to  the  Bombon  Lake 
(Taal)  district.  The  present  Batangas  Province  was  sub- 
dued by  him  and  included  in  the  jurisdiction  of  Mindoro 
Island.  During  the  campaign  Salcedo  was  severely 
wounded  by  an  arrow  and  returned  to  Manila. 

Legaspi  was  in  the  Island  of  Panay  when  Salcedo 
(some  writers  say  Goiti)  arrived  to  advise  him  of  what 
had  occurred  in  Luzon.  They  at  once  proceeded  together 
to  Cavite,  where  Lacandola  visited  Legaspi  on  board,  and, 
prostrating  himself,  averred  his  submission.  Then  Legaspi 
continued  his  journey  to  Manila,  and  was  received  there 
with  acclamation.  He  took  formal  possession  of  the  sur- 
rounding territory,  declared  Manila  to  be  the  capital  of 
the  archipelago,  and  proclaimed  the  sovereignty  of  the 
King  of  Spain  over  the  whole  group  of  islands.  Gaspar 
de  San  Agustin,  writing  of  this  period,  says:  "He  (Le- 
gaspi) ordered  them  (the  natives)  to  finish  the  building  of 
the  fort  in  construction  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  (Pasig), 
so  that  his  majesty's  artillery  might  be  mounted  therein 
for  the  defense  of  the  port  and  the  town.  Also  he  or- 


260  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

dered  them  to  build  a  large  house  inside  the  battlement 
walls  for  Legaspi's  own  residence — another  large  house 
and  church  for  the  priests,  etc.  .  .  .  Besides  these  two 
large  houses  he  told  them  to  erect  one  hundred  and  fifty 
dwellings  of  moderate  size  for  the  remainder  of  the  Span- 
iards to  live  in.  All  this  they  promptly  promised  to  do, 
but  they  did  not  obey,  for  the  Spaniards  were  themselves 
obliged  to  terminate  the  work  of  the  fortifications." 

The  City  Council  of  Manila  was  constituted  on  the 
24th  of  June,  1571.  On  the  20th  of  August,  1572,  Miguel 
Lopez  de  Legaspi  succumbed  to  the  fatigues  of  his  ardu. 
ous  life,  leaving  behind  him  a  name  which  will  always 
maintain  a  prominent  place  in  Spanish  colonial  history. 
He  was  buried  in  Manila  in  the  Augustine  Chapel  of  San 
Fausto,  where  hung  the  royal  standard  and  the  hero's 
armorial  bearings  until  the  British  troops  occupied  the 
city  in  1763. 

"Death  makes  no  conquest  of  this  conqueror, 
For  now  he  lives  in  fame,  though  not  in  life." 

—"Richard  III.,"  Act  3,  Sc.  1. 

In  the  meantime  Salcedo  continued  his  task  of  sub- 
jecting the  tribes  in  the  interior.  The  natives  of  Tay- 
tay,  and  Cainta,  in  the  present  military  district  of  Mo- 
rong,  submitted  to  him  on  the  15th  of  August,  1571.  He 
returned  to  the  Laguna  de  Bay  to  pacify  the  villagers, 
and  penetrated  as  far  as  Camarines  Norte  to  explore  the 
Bicol  River.  Bolinao  and  the  provinces  of  Pangasinan 
and  Ilocos  yielded  to  his  prowess,  and  in  this  last  prov- 
ince he  had  well  established  himself  when  the  defense  of 
the  capital  obliged  him  to  return  to  Manila. 


THE  PHILIPPINES.  261 

At  the  same  time  Martin  de  Goiti  was  actively  em- 
ployed in  overrunning  the  Pampanga  territory,  with  the 
double  object  of  procuring  supplies  for  the  Manila  camp 
and  coercing  the  inhabitants  on  his  way  to  acknowledge 
their  new  liege  lord.  It  is  recorded  that  in  this  expedition 
Goiti  was  joined  by  the  rajahs  of  Tondo  and  Manila.  Yet 
Lacandola  appears  to  have  been  regarded  more  as  a  ser- 
vant of  the  Spaniards  nolens  volens  than  as  a  free  ally ; 
for,  because  he  absented  himself  from  Goiti' s  camp  "with- 
out license  from  the  Maestre  de  Campo,"  he  was  suspected 
by  some  writers  of  having  favored  opposition  to  the  Span- 
iards' incursions  in  the  Marshes  of  Hagonoy  (Pampanga 
coast,  northern  boundary  of  Manila  Bay). 

The  district  which  constituted  the  ancient  province  of 
Taal  y  Balayan,  subsequently  denominated  Province  of 
Batangas,  was  formerly  governed  by  a  number  of  ca- 
ciques, the  most  notable  of  which  were  Gatpagil  and  Gat- 
jinlintan.  They  were  usually  at  war  with  their  neighbors. 
Gatjinlintan,  the  cacique  of  the  Batangas  River  at  the 
time  of  the  conquest,  was  famous  for  his  valor.  Gatsun- 
gayan,  who  ruled  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  was  cele- 
brated as  a  hunter  of  deer  and  wild  boar.  These  men 
were  half-castes  of  Borneo  and  Aeta  extraction,  who  formed 
a  distinct  race  called  by  the  natives  Daghagang.  None  of 
them  would  submit  to  the  King  of  Spain  or  become  Chris- 
tians, hence  their  descendants  were  offered  no  privileges. 

On  the  death  of  General  Legaspi,  the  government  of 
the  colony  was  assumed  by  the  royal  treasurer,  Guido  de 
Lavezares,  in  conformity  with  the  sealed  instructions  from 
the  Supreme  Court  of  Mexico,  which  were  now  opened. 
During  this  period,  the  possession  of  the  islands  was  un 


262  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

successfully  disputed  by  a  rival  expedition  under  the  com- 
mand of  a  Chinaman,  Li-ma-hong,  whom  the  Spaniards 
were  pleased  to  term  a  pirate,  forgetting,  perhaps,  that 
they  themselves  had  only  recently  wrested  the  country 
from  its  former  possessors  by  virtue  of  might  against 
right.  On  the  coasts  of  his  native  country  he  had  in- 
deed been  a  pirate.  For  the  many  depredations  committed 
by  him  against  private  traders  and  property,  the  Celestial 
Emperor,  failing  to  catch  him  by  cajolery,  outlawed  him. 
Born  in  the  port  of  Tiuchiu,  Li-ma-hong  at  an  early 
age  evinced  a  martial  spirit  and  joined  a  band  of  corsairs, 
which  for  a  long  time  had  been  the  terror  of  the  China 
coasts.  On  the  demise  of  his  chief  he  was  unanimously 
elected  leader  of  the  buccaneering  cruisers.  At  length,  pur- 
sued in  all  directions  by  the  imperial  ships  of  war,  he  -de- 
termined to  attempt  the  conquest  of  the  Philippines.  Pre- 
sumably the  same  incentives  which  impelled  the  Spanish 
mariners  to  conquer  lands  and  overthrow  dynasties — the 
vision  of  wealth,  glory  and  empire — awakened  a  like  am- 
bition in  the  Chinese  adventurer.  It  was  the  spirit  of  the 
age.  *  In  his  sea- wanderings  he  happened  to  fall  in  with 
a  Chinese  trading  junk  returning  from  Manila  with  the 
proceeds  of  her  cargo  sold  there.  This  he  seized,  and  the 
captive  crew  were  constrained  to  pilot  his  fleet  toward 
the  capital  of  Luzon.  From  them  he  learned  how  easily 
the  natives  had  been  plundered  by  a  handful  of  foreigners 

*  Guido  de  Lavezares  deposed  a  sultan  in  Borneo,  in 
order  to  aid  another  to  the  throne,  and  even  asked  permis- 
sion of  King  Philip  II.  to  conquer  China,  which  of  course 
was  not  conceded  to  him.  Vide  also  the  history  of  the  de- 
struction of  the  Aztec  (Mexican)  and  Incas  (Peruvian)  dynas- 
ties by  the  Spaniards. 


THE   PHILIPPINES.  263 

— the  probable  extent  of  the  opposition  he  might  encoun- 
ter— the  defenses  established — the  wealth  and  resources 
of  the  district  and  the  nature  of  its  inhabitants. 

His  fleet  consisted  of  sixty-two  warships  or  armed 
junks,  well  found,  having  on  board  two  thousand  sail- 
ors, two  thousand  soldiers,  one  thousand  five  hundred 
women,  a  number  of  artisans,  and  all  that  could  be  con- 
veniently carried  with  which  to  gain  and  organize  his 
new  kingdom.  On  its  way  the  squadron  cast  anchor  off 
the  province  of  Ilocos  Sur,  where  a  few  troops  were  sent 
ashore  to  get  provisions.  While  returning  to  the  junks, 
they  sacked  the  village  and  set  fire  to  the  huts.  The 
news  of  this  outrage  was  hastily  communicated  to  Juan 
Salcedo,  who  had  been  pacifying  the  northern  provinces 
since  July,  1572,  and  was  at  the  time  in  Villa  Fernandina 
(now  called  Vigan).  Li-ma-hong  continued  his  course  un- 
til calms  compelled  his  ships  to  anchor  in  the  roads  of 
Caoayan  (Ilocos  coast),  where  a  few  Spanish  soldiers  were 
stationed  under  the  orders  of  Juan  Salcedo,  who  still  was 
in  the  immediate  town  of  Vigan.  Under  his  direction, 
preparations  were  made  to  prevent  the  enemy  entering  the 
river,  but  such  was  not  Li-ma-hong's  intention.  He  again 
set  sail;  while  Salcedo,  naturally  supposing  his  course 
would  be  toward  Manila,  also  started  at  the  same  time 
for  the  capital  with  all  the  fighting  men  he  could  collect, 
leaving  only  thirty  men  to  garrison  Vigan  and  protect  the 
State  interests  there. 

On  the  29th  of  November,  1574,  the  squadron  arrived  in 
the  Bay  of  Manila,  and  Li-ma  hong  sent  forward  his  lieu- 
tenant, Sioco — a  Japanese — at  the  head  of  six  hundred 

fighting  men,  to  demand  the  surrender  of  the  Spaniards. 

12 


264  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

A  strong  gale,  however,  destroyed  several  of  his  junks, 
in  which  about  two  hundred  men  perished. 

With  the  remainder  he  reached  the  coast  at  Paranaque, 
a  village  a  few  miles  south  of  Manila.  Thence,  with  tow 
lines,  the  four  hundred  soldiers  hauled  their  junks  up  to 
the  beach  of  the  capital. 

Already  at  the  village  of  Malate  the  alarm  was  raised, 
but  the  Spaniards  could  not  give  credit  to  the  reports,  and 
no  resistance  was  offered  until  the  Chinese  were  within 
the  gates  of  the  city.  Martin  de  Goiti,  the  Maestre  de 
Campo,  second  in  command  to  the  governor,  was  the  first 
victim  of  the  attack. 

The  flames  and  smoke  arising  from  his  burning  resi- 
dence were  the  first  indications  which  the  governor  re- 
ceived of  what  was  going  on.  The  Spaniards  took  refuge 
in  the  fort  of  Santiago,  which  the  Chinese  were  on  the 
point  of  taking  by  storm,  when  their  attention  was  drawn 
elsewhere  by  the  arrival  of  fresh  troops  led  by  a  Spanish 
sub-lieutenant.  Under  the  mistaken  impression  that  these 
were  the  vanguard  of  a  formidable  corps,  Sioco  sounded 
the  retreat.  A  bloody  hand-to-hand  combat  followed,  and 
with  great  difficulty  the  Chinese  collected  their  dead  and 
regained  their  junks. 

In  the  meantime  Li-ma-hong,  with  the  reserved  forces, 
was  lying  in  the  roadstead  of  Cavite,  and  Sioco  hastened 
to  report  to  him  the  result  of  the  attack,  which  had  cost 
the  invader  over  one  hundred  dead  and  more  than  that 
number  wounded.  Thereupon  Li-ma-hong  resolved  to  rest 
his  troops  and  renew  the  conflict  in  two  days'  time  under 
his  personal  supervision.  The  next  day  Juan  Salcedo  ar- 
rived by  sea  with  re-enforcements  from  Yigan,  and  prepa- 


THE    PHILIPPINES.  265 

rations  were  unceasingly  made  for  the  expected  encounter. 
Salcedo  having  been  appointed  to1  the  office  of  Maestre  de 
Campo,  vacant  since  the  death  of  Goiti,  the  organization 
of  the  defense  was  intrusted  to  his  immediate  care. 

By  daybreak  on  the  3d  of  December,  the  enemy's  fleet 
hove  to  off  the  capital,  where  Li-ma-hong  harangued  his 
troops,  while  the  cornets  and  drums  of  the  Spaniards  were 
sounding  the  alarm  for  their  fighting  men  to  assemble  in 
the  fort. 

Then  fifteen  hundred  chosen  men,  well  armed,  were 
disembarked  under  the  leadership  of  Sioco,  who  swore  to 
take  the  place  or  die  in  the  attempt.  Sioco  separated  his 
forces  into  three  divisions.  The  city  was  set  fire  to,  and 
Sioco  advanced  toward  the  fort,  into  which  hand-grenades 
were  thrown,  while  Li-ma-hong  supported  the  attack  with 
his  ships'  cannon. 

Sioco,  with  his  division,  at  length  entered  the  fort,  and 
a  hand-to-hand  fight  ensued.  For  a  while  the  issue  was 
doubtful.  Salcedo  fought  like  a  lion.  Even  the  aged 
governor  was  well  at  the  front  to  encourage  the  deadly 
struggle  for  existence.  The  Spaniards  finally  gained  the 
victory;  the  Chinese  were  repulsed  with  great  slaughter; 
and  their  leader  having  been  killed,  they  fled  in  complete 
disorder.  Salcedo,  profiting  by  the  confusion,  now  took 
the  offensive  and  followed  up  the  enemy,  pursuing  them 
along  the  seashore,  where  they  were  joined  by  the  third 
division,  which  had  remained  inactive.  The  panic  of  the 
Chinese  spread  rapidly,  and  Li-ma-hong,  in  despair,  landed 
another  contingent  of  about  five  hundred  men,  while  he 
still  continued  afloat;  but  even  with  this  re-enforcement 
the  morale  of  his  army  could  not  be  regained. 


266  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

The  Chinese  troops  therefore,  harassed  on  all  sides, 
made  a  precipitate  retreat  on  board  the  fleet,  and  Li- 
ma-hong set  sail  again  for  the  west  coast  of  the  island. 
Foiled  in  the  attempt  to  possess  himself  of  Manila,  Li-ma- 
hong  determined  to  set  up  his  capital  in  other  parts.  In 
a  few  days  he  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  Agno  River, 
in  the  province  of  Pangasinan,  where  he  proclaimed  to 
the  natives  that  he  had  gained  a  signal  victory  over  the 
Spaniards.  The  inhabitants  there,  having  no  particular 
choice  between  two  masters,  received  Li-ma-hong  with 
welcome,  and  he  thereupon  set  about  the  foundation  of 
his  new  capital  some  four  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the 
river.  Months  passed  before  the  Spaniards  came  in  force 
to  dislodge  the  invader.  Feeling  themselves  secure  in 
their  new  abode,  the  Chinese  had  built  many  dwellings, 
a  small  fortress,  a  pagoda,  etc.  At  length  an  expedition 
was  dispatched  under  the  command  of  Juan  Salcedo. 
This  was  composed  of  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  Span- 
iards and  one  thousand  six  hundred  natives  well  equipped 
with  small  arms,  ammunition  and  artillery.  The  flower 
of  the  Spanish  colony,  accompanied  by  two  priests  and  the 
Rajah  of  Tondo,  set  out  to  expel  the  formidable  foe. 
Li-ma-hong  made  a  bold  resistance  and  refused  to  come 
to  terms  with  Salcedo.  In  the  meantime,  the  Viceroy  of 
Fokien,  having  heard  of  Li-ma-hong's  daring  exploits, 
had  commissioned  a  ship  of  war  to  discover  the  where- 
about of  his  imperial  master's  old  enemy.  The  envoy 
was  received  with  delight  by  the  Spaniards,  who  invited 
him  to  accompany  them  to  Manila  to  interview  the 
governor. 

Li-ma-hong  still  held  out,  but  perceiving  that  an  irre- 


THE    PHILIPPINES.  267 

sist:ble  onslaught  was  being  projected  against  him  by 
Salcedo's  party,  he  very  cunningly  and  quite  unexpectedly 
gave  them  the  slip,  and  sailed  out  of  the  river  with  his 
ships  by  one  of  the  mouths  unknown  to  his  enemies.*  In 
order  to  divert  the  attention  of  the  Spaniards,  Li-ma-hong 
ingeniously  feigned  an  assault  in  an  opposite  quarter.  Of 
course,  on  his  escape,  he  had  to  abandon  the  troops  em- 
ployed in  this  maneuver.  These,  losing  all  hope,  and 
having,  indeed,  nothing  but  their  lives  to  fight  for,  fled 
to  the  mountains.  Hence,  it  is  popularly  supposed  that 
from  these  fugitives  descends  the  race  of  people  in  that 
province  still  distinguishable  by  their  oblique  eyes  and 
known  by  the  name  of  Igorrote-Chinese. 

"Aide  toi  et  Dieu  t'aidera"  is  an  old  French  maxim, 
but  the  Spaniards  chose  to  attribute  their  deliverance  from 
their  Chinese  rival  to  the  friendly  intervention  of  Saint 
Andrew.  This  saint  was  declared  thenceforth  to  be  the 
patron  saint  of  Manila,  and  in  his  honor  High  Mass  is 
celebrated  in  the  Cathedral  at  8  A.M.  on  the  30th  of  each 
November.  It  is  a  public  holiday  and  gala-day,  when  all 
the  highest  civil,  military  and  religious  authorities  attend 
the  "Funcion  votiva  de  San  Andres."  This  opportunity  to 
assert  the  supremacy  of  ecclesiastical  power  was  not  lost 
to  the  Church,  and  for  many  years  it  was  the  custom, 
after  hearing  Mass,  to  spread  the  Spanish  national  flag  on 
the  floor  of  the  Cathedral  for  the  metropolitan  archbishop 
to  walk  over  it.  It  has  been  asserted,  however,  that  a 


*  According  to  Juan  de  la  Concepcion,  in  his  "Hist. 
Gen  de  Philipinas,"  Vol.  I.,  page  431,  Li-ma-hong  made 
his  escape  by  cutting  a  canal  for  his  ships  to  pass  through, 
but  this  appears  highly  improbable  under  the  circumstances. 


268  HISTORY  OF   SPAIN. 

few  years  ago  the  governor-general  refused  to  witness 
this  antiquated  formula,  which,  in  public  at  least,  no 
longer  obtains.  Now  it  is  the  practice  to  carry  the 
royal  standard  before  the  altar.  Both  before  and  after 
the  Mass,  the  bearer  (Alferez  Real),  wearing  his  hat  and 
accompanied  by  the  mayor  of  the  city,  stands  on  the 
altar-floor,  raises  his  hat  three  times,  and  three  times  dips 
the  flag  before  the  Image  of  Christ,  then,  facing  the  pub- 
lic, he  repeats  this  ceremony.  On  Saint  Andrew's  eve, 
the  royal  standard  is  borne  in  procession  from  the  Cathe- 
dral through  the  principal  streets  of  the  city,  escorted  by 
civil  functionaries  and  followed  by  a  band  of  music.  This 
ceremony  is  known  as  the  "Paseo  del  Real  Pendon." 

According  to  Juan  de  la  Concepcion,  the  Rajahs*  Soli- 
man  and  Lacandola  took  advantage  of  these  troubles  to 
raise  a  rebellion  against  the  Spaniards.  The  natives  too 
of  Mindoro  Island  revolted  and  maltreated  the  priests,  but 
all  these  disturbances  were  speedily  quelled  by  a  detach- 
ment of  soldiers. 

The  governor  willingly  accepted  the  offer  of  the  com- 
mander of  the  Chinese  man-of-war  to  convey  embassadors 
to  his  country  to  visit  the  viceroy  and  make  a  commer- 
cial treaty.  Therefore  two  priests,  Martin  Rada  and 
Geronimo  Martin,  were  commissioned  to  carry  a  letter 
of  greeting  and  presents  to  this  personage,  who  received 
them  with  great  distinction,  but  objected  to  their  residing 
in  the  country. 

After  the  defeat  of  Li-ma-hong,  Juan  Salcedo  again 
repaired  to  the  northern  provinces  of  Luzon  Island,  to 

*  Other  authors  assert  that  only  Soliman  rebelled. 


THE    PHILIPPINES.  269 

continue  his  task  of  reducing  the  natives  to  submission. 
On  the  llth  of  March,  1576,  he  died  of  fever  near  Vigan 
(then  called  Villa  Fernandina),  capital  of  the  province  of 
llocos  Sur.  A  year  afterward,  what  could  be  found  of  his 
bones  were  placed  in  the  ossuary  of  his  illustrious  grand- 
father, Legaspi,  in  the  Augustine  Chapel  of  Saint  Fausto, 
Manila.  His  skull,  however,  which  had  been  carried  off 
by  the  natives  of  llocos,  could  not  be  recovered  in  spite  of 
all  threats  and  promises.  In  Vigan  there  is  a  small  mon- 
ument raised  to  commemorate  the  deeds  of  this  famous 
warrior,  and  there  is  also  a  street  bearing  his  name. 

For  several  years  following  these  events,  the  question 
of  prestige  in  the  civil  affairs  of  the  colony  was  acrimoni- 
ously contested  by  the  governor-general,  the  supreme  court 
and  the  ecclesiastics. 

The  governor  was  censured  by  his  opponents  for  alleged 
undue  exercise  of  arbitrary  authority.  The  supreme  court, 
established  on  the  Mexican  model,  was  reproached  with 
seeking  to  overstep  the  limits  of  its  functions.  Every  legal 
quibble  was  adjusted  by  a  dilatory  process,  impracticable 
in  a  colony  yet  in  its  infancy,  where  summary  justice  was 
indispensable  for  the  maintenance  of  order  imperfectly  un- 
derstood by  the  masses.  But  the  fault  laid  less  with  the 
justices  than  with  the  constitution  of  the  court  itself.  Nor 
was  this  state  of  affairs  improved  by  the  growing  discon- 
tent and  immoderate  ambition  of  the  clergy,  who  unre- 
mittingly urged  their  pretensions  to  immunity  from  State 
control,  affirming  the  supramundane  condition  of  their 
office. 

An  excellent  code  of  laws,  called  the  Leyes  de  Indias, 
in  force  in  Mexico,  was  adopted  here,  but  modifications  in 


270  HISTORY   OF  SPAIN. 

harmony  with  the  special  conditions  of  this  colony  were 
urgently  necessary,  while  all  the  branches  of  government 
called  for  reorganization  or  reform.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, the  bishop  of  Manila,  Domingo  Salazar,  took  the 
initiative  in  commissioning  a  priest,  Fray  Alonso  Sanchez, 
to  repair  first  to  the  viceroy  of  Mexico  and  afterward 
to  the  King  of  Spain,  to  expose  the  grievances  of  his 
party. 

Alonso  Sanchez  left  the  Philippines  with  his  appoint- 
ment as  procurator-general  for  the  Augustine  order  of 
monks.  As  the  execution  of  the  proposed  reforms,  which 
he  was  charged  to  lay  before  his  majesty,  would,  if  con- 
ceded, be  intrusted  to  the  government  of  Mexico,  his  first 
care  was  to  seek  the  partisanship  of  the  viceroy  of  that 
colony;  and  in  this  he  succeeded.  Thence  he  continued 
his  journey  to  Seville,  where  the  court  happened  to  be, 
arriving  there  in  September,  1587.  H  was  at  once 
granted  an  audience  of  the  king,  to  present  his  cre- 
dentials and  memorials  relative  to  Philippine  affairs  in 
general;  and  ecclesiastical,  judicial,  military  and  native 
matters  in  particular.  The  king  promised  to  peruse  all 
the  documents,  but  suffering  from  gout,  and  having  so 
many  and  distinct  State  concerns  to  attend  to,  the  nego- 
tiations were  greatly  delayed.  Finally,  Sanchez  sought 
a  minister  who  had  easy  access  to  the  royal  apartments, 
and  this  personage  obtained  from  the  king  permission  to 
examine  the  documents  and  hand  to  him  a  succinct  re- 
sume of  the  whole  for  his  majesty's  consideration.  A 
commission  was  then  appointed,  including  Sanchez,  and 
the  deliberations  lasted  five  months. 

At  this  period,  public  opinion  in  the   Spanish   univer- 


THE   PHILIPPINES.  271 

sities  was  very  divided  with  respect  to  Catholic  missions 
in  the  Indies. 

Some  maintained  that  the  propaganda  of  the  faith 
ought  to  be  purely  Apostolic,  such  as  Jesus  Christ  taught 
to.  his  disciples,  inculcating  doctrines  of  humility  and 
poverty  without  arms  or  violence,  and  if,  nevertheless, 
the  heathens  refused  to  welcome  this  mission  of  peace, 
the  missionaries  should  simply  abandon  them  in  silence 
without  further  demonstration  than  that  of  shaking  the 
dust  off  their  feet. 

Others  opined,  and  among  them  was  Sanchez,  that 
such  a  method  was  useless  and  impracticable,  and  that 
it  was  justifiable  to  force  their  religion  upon  primitive 
races  at  the  point  of  the  sword  if  necessary,  using  any 
violence  to  enforce  its  acceptance. 

Much  ill-feeling  was  aroused  in  the  discussion  of  these 
two  and  distinct  theories.  Juan  Volante,  a  Dominican 
friar  of  the  Convent  of  Our  Lady  of  Atocha,  presented 
a  petition  against  the  views  of  the  Sanchez  faction,  de- 
claring that  the  idea  of  ingrafting  religion  with  the  aid 
of  arms  was  scandalous.  Fray  Juan  Volante  was  so 
importunate,  that  he  had  to  be  heard  in  council,  but 
neither  party  yielded.  At  length,  the  intervention  of  the 
bishops  of  Manila,  Macao  and  Malacca  and  several  cap- 
tains and  governors  in  the  Indies  influenced  the  king  to 
put  an  end  to  the  controversy,  on  the  ground  that  it 
would  lead  to  no  good. 

The  king  retired  to  the  Monastery  of  the  Escorial,  and 
Sanchez  was  cited  to  meet  him  there  to  learn  the  royal 
will.  About  the  same  time  the  news  reached  the  king 
of  the  loss  of  the  so-called  Invincible  Armada,  sent  under 


272  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

the  command  of  the  incompetent  Duke  of  Medina  Sidonia 
to  annex  England.  Notwithstanding  this  severe  blow  to 
the  vain  ambition  of  Philip,  the  affairs  of  the  Philippines 
were  delayed  but  a  short  time.  On  the  basis  of  the  rec- 
ommendation of  the  junta,  the  royal  assent  was  given  to 
an  important  decree,  of  which  the  most  significant  ar- 
ticles are  the  following,  namely: — The  tribute  was  fixed 
by  the  king  at  ten  reales  per  annum,  payable  by  the  na- 
tives in  gold,  silver,  or  grain,  or  part  in  one  commodity 
and  part  in  the  other.  Of  this  tribute,  eight  reales  were 
to  be  paid  to  the  treasury,  one  half  real  to  the  bishop 
and  clergy,  and  one  real  and  a  half  to  be  applied  to 
the  maintenance  of  the  soldiery.  Full  tribute  was  not 
to  be  exacted  from  the  natives  still  unsubjected  to  the 
crown.  Until  their  confidence  and  loyalty  should  be 
gained  by  friendly  overtures,  they  were  to  pay  a  small 
recognition  of  vassalage,  and  subsequently  the  tribute  in 
common  with  the  rest. 

Instead  of  one-fifth  value  of  gold  and  hidden  treasure 
due  to  his  majesty  (real  quinto),  he  would  henceforth  re- 
ceive only  one-tenth  of  such  value,  excepting  that  of  gold, 
which  the  natives  would  be  permitted  to  extract  free  of 
rebate. 

A  custom?  duty  of  3  per  cent  ad  valorem  was  to  be 
paid  on  merchandise  sold,  and  this  duty  was  to  be  spent 
on  the  army. 

Export  duty  was  to  be  paid  on  goods  shipped  to  New 
Spain  (Mexico),  and  this  impost  was  also  to  be  exclusively 
spent  on  the  armed  forces. 

The  number  of  European  troops  in  the  colony  was  fixed 
at  four  hundred  men-at-arms,  divided  into  six  companies, 


THE  PHILIPPINES.  273 

each  under  a  captain,  a  sub-lieutenant,  a  sergeant,  and  two 
corporals.  Their  pay  was  to  be  as  follows,  namely:  Cap- 
tain thirty-five  dollars,  sub-lieutenant  twenty  dollars,  ser- 
geant ten  dollars,  corporal  seven  dollars,  rank  and  file  six 
dollars  per  month;  besides  which,  an  annual  gratuity  of 
ten  thousand  dollars  was  to  be  proportionately  distributed 
to  all. 

Recruits  from  Mexico  were  not  to  enlist  under  the  age 
of  fifteen  years. 

The  captain-general  was  to  have  a  body-guard  of 
twenty-four  men  (halberdiers),  with  the  pay  of  those 
of  the  line,  under  the  immediate  command  of  a  cap- 
tain to  be  paid  fifteen  dollars  per  month. 

Salaries  due  to  State  employes  were  to  be  punctually 
paid  when  due;  and  when  funds  were  wanted  for  that 
purpose  they  were  to  be  supplied  from  Mexico. 

The  king  made  a  donation  of  twelve  thousand  dollars, 
which,  with  another  like  sum  to  be  contributed  by  the 
Spaniards  themselves,  would  serve  to  liquidate  their  debts 
incurred  on  their  first  occupation  of  the  islands. 

The  governor  and  bishop  were  recommended  to  con- 
sider the  project  of  a  refuge  for  young  Spanish  women 
arrived  from  Spain,  and  to  study  the  question  of  dowries 
for  native  women  married  to  poor  Spaniards. 

The  offices  of  secretaries  and  notaries  were  no  longer 
to  be  sold,  but  conferred  on  persons  who  merited  such 
appointments. 

The  governors  were  instructed  not  to  make  grants  of 
land  to  their  relations,  servants  or  friends,  but  solely  to 
those  who  should  have  resided  at  least  three  years  in  the 
islands,  and  have  worked  the  lands  so  conceded.  Any 


274  HISTORY    OF  SPAIN. 

grants  which  might  have  already  been  made  to  the  rela- 
tions of  the  governors  or  magistrates  were  to  be  canceled. 

The  rent  paid  by  the  Chinese  for  the  land  they  occu- 
pied was  to  be  applied  to  the  necessities  of  the  capital. 

The  governor  and  bishop  were  to  enjoin  the  judges  not 
to  permit  costly  lawsuits,  but  to  execute  summary  justice 
verbally,  and,  so  far  as  possible,  fines  were  not  to  be 
inflicted. 

The  city  of  Manila  was  to  be  fortified  in  a  manner  to 
insure  it  against  all  further  attacks  or  risings. 

Four  penitentiaries  were  to  be  established  in  the  isl- 
ands in  the  most  convenient  places,  with  the  necessary 
garrisons,  and  six  to  eight  galleys  and  frigates  well  armed 
and  ready  for  defense  against  the  English  corsairs  which 
might  come  by  way  of  the  Moluccas. 

In  the  most  remote  and  unexplored  parts  of  the  isl- 
ands, the  governor  was  to  have  unlimited  powers  to  act 
as  he  should  please,  without  consulting  his  majesty;  but 
projected  enterprises  of  conversion,  pacification,  etc.,  at 
the  expense  of  the  royal  treasury,  were  to  be  submitted 
to  a  council,  comprising  the  bishop,  the  captains,  etc.  The 
governor  was  authorized  to  capitulate  and  agree  with  the 
captains  and  others  who  might  care  to  undertake  conver- 
sions and  pacifications  on  their  own  account,  and  to  con- 
cede the  title  of  Maestre  de  Campo  to  such  persons,  on 
condition  that  such  capitulations  should  be  forwarded  to 
his  majesty  for  ratification. 

Only  those  persons  domiciled  in  the  islands  would  be 
permitted  to  trade  with  them. 

A  sum  of  one  thousand  dollars  was  to  be  taken  from 
the  tributes  paid  into  the  royal  treasury  for  the  founda- 


THE  PHILIPPINES.  275 

tion  of  the  hospital  for  the  Spaniards,  and  the  annual  sum 
of  six  hundred  dollars,  appropriated  by  the  governor  for 
its  support,  was  confirmed.  Moreover,  the  royal  treasury 
of  Mexico  was  to  send  clothing  to  the  value  of  four  hun- 
dred ducats  for  the  hospital  use. 

The  hospital  for  the  natives  was  to  receive  an  annual 
donation  of  six  hundred  dollars  for  its  support,  and  an 
immediate  supply  of  clothing  from  Mexico  to  the  value 
of  two  hundred  dollars. 

Slaves  held  by  Spaniards  were  to  be  immediately  set  at 
liberty.  ITo  native  was  thenceforth  to  be  enslaved.  All 
new  born  natives  were  declared  free.  The  bondage  of  all 
existing  slaves  from  ten  years  of  age  was  to  cease  on  their 
attaining  twenty  years  of  age.  Those  above  twenty  years 
of  age  were  to  serve  five  years  longer,  and  then  become 
free.  AJ;  any  time,  notwithstanding  the  foregoing  condi- 
tions, they  would  be  entitled  to  purchase  their  liberty,  the 
price  of  which  was  to  be  determined  by  the  governor  and 
the  bishop.* 

There  being  no  tithes  payable  to  the  church  by  Span- 
iards or  natives,  the  clergy  were  to  receive  for  their  main- 
tenance the  half  real  above  mentioned  in  lieu  thereof, 
from  the  tribute  paid  by  each  native  subjected  to  the 

*  Bondage  in  the  Philippines  was  apparently  not  so  neces- 
sary for  the  interests  of  the  Church  as  it  was  in  Cuba,  where 
a  commission  of  friars,  appointed  soon  after  the  discovery  of 
the  island  to  deliberate  on  the  policy  of  partially  permitting 
slavery  there,  reported  "that  the  Indians  would  not  labor 
without  compulsion,  and  that,  unless  they  labored,  they 
could  not  be  brought  into  communication  with  the  whites, 
nor  be  converted  to  Christianity."  Vide  W.  H.  Prescott's 
"Hist,  of  the  Conquest  of  Mexico." 


276  HISTORY   OF  SPAIN. 

crown.      When    the    Spaniards    should    have    crops,   they 
were   to  pay  tithes  to   the  clergy. 

A  grant  was  made  of  twelve  thousand  ducats  for  the 
building  and  ornaments  of  the  Cathedral,  and  an  immedi- 
ate advance  of  two  thousand  ducats,  on  account  of  this 
grant,  was  made  from  the  funds  to  be  remitted  from 
Mexico. 

Forty  Austin  friars  were  to  be  sent  at  once  to  the 
Philippines,  to  be  followed  by  missionaries  from  other  cor- 
porations. The  king  allowed  five  hundred  dollars  to  be 
paid  against  the  one  thousand  dollars'  passage  money  for 
each  priest,  the  balance  to  be  defrayed  out  of  the  com- 
mon funds  of  the  clergy,  derived  from  their  share  of 
the  tribute. 

Missionaries  in  great  numbers  had  already  flocked  to 
the  Philippines  and  roamed  wherever  they  thought  fit, 
without  license  from  the  bishop,  whose  authority  they 
utterly  repudiated. 

Affirming  that  they  had  the  direct  consent  of  his  holi- 
ness the  Pope,  they  menaced  with  excommunication  who- 
soever attempted  to  impede  them  in  their  free  peregrina- 
tion. Five  years  after  the  foundation  of  Manila,  the  city 
and  environs  were  infested  with  niggardly  mendicant 
friars,  whose  slothful  habits  placed  their  supercilious 
countrymen  in  ridicule  before  the  natives.  They  were 
tolerated  but  a  short  time  in  the  islands;  not  altogether 
because  of  the  ruin  they  would  have  brought  to  Euro- 
pean moral  influence  on  the  untutored  tribes,  but  because 
the  bishop  was  highly  jealous  of  all  competition  against 
the  Augustine  order  to  which  he  belonged.  Consequent 
on  the  representations  of  Fray  Alonso  Sanchez,  his  maj- 


THE   PHILIPPINES.  277 

esty  ordained  that  all  priests  who  went  to  the  Philippines 
were,  in  the  first  place,  to  resolve  never  to  quit  the  islands 
without  the  bishop's  sanction,  which  was  to  be  conceded 
with  great  circumspection  and  only  in  extreme  cases,  while 
the  governor  was  instructed  not  to  afford  them  means  of 
exit  on  his  sole  authority. 

Neither  did  the  bishop  regard  with  satisfaction  the 
presence  of  the  commissary  of  the  Inquisition,  whose  se- 
cret investigations,  shrouded  with  mystery,  curtailed  the 
liberty  of  the  loftiest  functionary,  sacred  or  civil.  At 
the  instigation  of  Fray  Alonso  Sanchez,  the  junta  rec- 
ommended the  king  to  recall  the  commissary  and  extin- 
guish the  office,  but  he  refused  to  do  so.  In  short,  the 
chief  aims  of  the  bishop  were  to  enhance  the  power  of 
the  friars,  raise  the  dignity  of  the  colonial  miter,  and 
secure  a  religious  monopoly  for  the  Augustine  order. 

Gomez  Perez  Dasmarinas  was  the  next  governor  ap- 
pointed to  these  islands,  on  the  recommendation  of  Fray 
Alonso  Sanchez.  In  the  royal  instructions  which  he 
brought  with  him  were  embodied  all  the  above  men- 
tioned civil,  ecclesiastical  and  military  reforms. 

At  the  same  time,  King  Philip  abolished  the  supreme 
court.  He  wished  to  put  an  end  to  the  interminable  law- 
suits so  prejudicial  to  the  development  of  the  colony. 
Therefore  the  president  and  magistrates  were  replaced 
by  justices  of  the  peace,  and  the  former  returned  to 
Mexico  in  1591.  This  measure  served  only  to  widen 
the  breach  between  the  bishop  and  the  civil  government. 
Dasmarinas  compelled  him  to  keep  within  the  sphere  of 
his  sacerdotal  functions,  and  tolerated  no  rival  in  State 
concerns.  There  was  no  appeal  on  the  spot  against  the 


278  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

governor's  authority.  This  restraint  irritated  and  dis- 
gusted the  bishop  to  such  a  degree,  that  at  the  age  of 
seventy-eight  years  he  resolved  to  present  himself  at  the 
Spanish  court.  On  his  arrival  there,  he  manifested  to 
the  king  the  impossibility  of  one  bishop  attending  to  the 
spiritual  wants  of  a  people  dispersed  over  so  many  isl- 
ands. For  seven  years  after  the  foundation  of  Manila,  as 
capital  of  the  archipelago,  its  principal  church  was  sim- 
ply a  parish  church.  In  1578  it  was  raised  to  the  dignity 
of  a  cathedral,  at  the  instance  of  the  king.  Three  years 
after  this  date  the  Cathedral  of  Manila  was  solemnly  de- 
clared to  be  a  "Suffragan  Cathedral  of  Mexico,  under  the 
Ad  vocation  of  Our  Lady  of  the  Immaculate  Conception"; 
Domingo  Salazar  being  the  first  bishop  consecrated.  He 
now  proposed  to  raise  the  Manila  see  to  an  archbishopric, 
with  three  suffragan  bishops.  The  king  gave  his  consent, 
subject  to  approval  from  Rome,  and,  this  following  in  due 
course,  Salazar  was  appointed  first  archbishop  of  Manila; 
but  he  died  before  the  Papal  Bull  arrived,  dated  the  14th 
of  August,  1595,  officially  authorizing  his  investiture. 

In  the  meantime,  Alonso  Sanchez  had  proceeded  to 
Rome  in  May,  1589.  Among  many  other  Pontifical  favors 
conceded  to  him,  he  obtained  the  right  for  himself,  or  his 
assigns,  to  use  a  die  or  stamp  of  any  form  with  one  or 
more  images;  to  be  chosen  by  the  holder,  and  to  contain 
also  the  figure  of  Christ,  the  Very  Holy  Virgin,  or  the 
Saint — Peter  or  Paul.  On  the  reverse  was  to  be  engraven 
a  bust  portrait  of  His  Holiness  with  the  following  indul- 
gences attached  thereto,  viz.: — "To  him  who  should  con- 
vey the  word  of  God  to  the  infidels,  or  give  them  notice 
of  the  holy  mysteries — each  time  300  years'  indulgence. 


THE  PHILIPPINES.  279 

To  him  who,  by  industry,  converted  any  one  of  these,  or 
brought  him  to  the  bosom  of  the  Church — full  indulgence 
for  all  sins."  A  number  of  minor  indulgences  were  con- 
ceded for  services  to  be  rendered  to  the  Pontificate,  and 
for  the  praying  so  many  Pater  Nosters  and  Ave  Marias. 
This  Bull  was  dated  in  Rome  the  28th  of  July,  1591. 

Popes  Gregory  XIV.  and  Innocent  IX.  granted  other 
Bulls  relating  to  the  rewards  for  using  beads,  medals, 
crosses,  pictures,  blessed  images,  etc.,  with  which  one 
could  gain  nine  plenary  indulgences  every  day  or  rescue 
nine  souls  from  purgatory;  and  each  day,  twice  over,  all 
the  full  indulgences  yet  given  in  and  out  of  Rome  could 
be  obtained  for  living  and  deceased  persons. 

Sanchez  returned  to  Spain  (where  he  died),  bringing 
with  him  the  body  of  Saint  Policarp,  a  relic  of  Saint 
Potenciana,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  seven  martyrs; 
among  them,  twenty-seven  popes,  for  remission  to  the 
Cathedral  of  Manila. 

The  supreme  court  was  re-established  with  the  same 
faculties  as  those  of  Mexico  and  Lima  in  1598,  and  since 
then,  on  seven  occasions,  when  the  governorship  has  been 
vacant,  it  has  acted  pro  tern.  The  following  interesting 
account  of  the  pompous  ceremonial  attending  the  recep- 
tion of  the  Royal  Seal,  restoring  this  court,  is  given  by 
Concepcion.*  He  says:  "The  Royal  Seal  of  office  was 
received  from  the  ship  with  the  accustomed  solemnity.  It 
was  contained  in  a  chest  covered  with  purple  velvet  and 
trimmings  of  silver  and  gold,  over  which  hung  a  cloth  of 
purple  and  gold.  It  was  escorted  by  a  majestic  accom- 

*  "Hist.  Gen.  de  Philipinas,"  by  Juan  de  la  Concepcion, 
Vol.  III.,  Chap.  IX.,  page  365,  pub.  Manila,  1788. 


280  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

paniment,  marching  to  the  sounds  of  clarions  and  cym- 
bals and  other  musical  instruments.  The  cortege  passed 
through  the  noble  city  with  rich  vestments,  and  leg  trim- 
mings and  uncovered  heads.  Behind  these  followed  a 
horse,  gorgeously  caparisoned  and  girthed,  for  the  presi- 
dent to  place  the  coffer  containing  the  Royal  Seal  upon 
its  back.  The  streets  were  beautifully  adorned  with  ex- 
quisite drapery.  The  high  bailiff,  magnificently  robed, 
took  the  reins  in  hand  to  lead  the  horse  under  a  purple 
velvet  pall  bordered  with  gold.  The  magistrates  walked 
on  either  side;  the  aldermen  of  the  city,  richly  clad,  car- 
ried their  staves  of  office  in  the  august  procession,  whioh 
concluded  with  a  military  escort,  standard-bearers,  eto.T 
and  proceeded  to  the  Cathedral,  where  it  was  met  by  the 
dean,  holding  a  Cross.  As  the  company  entered  the  sacred 
edifice,  the  Te  Deum  was  entoned  by  a  band  of  music." 

In  1886  a  supreme  court,  exactly  similar  to,  and  inde- 
pendent of,  that  of  Manila,  was  established  in  the  city  of 
Cebu.  The  question  of  precedence  in  official  acts  having 
been  soon  after  disputed  between  the  president  of  the  court 
and  the  brigadier-governor  of  Visayas,  it  was  decided  in 
favor  of  the  latter,  on  appeal  to  the  governor-general.  In 
the  meantime,  the  advisability  of  abolishing  the  supreme 
court  of  Cebu  was  debated  by  the  public. 

Consequent  on  the  union  of  the  crowns  of  Portugal 
and  Spain  (1581  to  1640),  the  feuds,  as  between  nations, 
diplomatically  subsided,  although  the  individual  antag- 
onism was  as  rife  as  ever. 

Spanish  and  Portuguese  interests  in  the  Moluccas,  as 
elsewhere,  were  thenceforth  officially  mutual.  In  the  Mo- 
luccas group,  the  old  contests  between  the  then  rival  king- 


THE    PHILIPPINES.  281 

doms  had  estranged  the  natives  from  their  forced  alli- 
ances. Anti-Portuguese  and  Philo-Portuguese  parties  had 
sprung  up  among  the  petty  sovereignties,  but  the  Portu- 
guese fort  and  factory  established  in  Ternate  Island  were 
held  for  many  years,  despite  all  contentions.  But  another 
rivalry,  as  formidable  and  more  detrimental  than  that  of 
the  Portuguese  in  days  gone  by,  now  menaced  Spanish 
ascendency. 

From  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century  up  to  the  year 
of  the  "Family  Compact"  wars  (1763),  Holland  and  Spain 
were  relentless  foes.  To  recount  the  numerous  combats 
between  their  respective  fleets  during  this  period  would 
itself  require  a  volume.  It  will  suffice  here  to  show  the 
bearing  of  these  political  conflicts  upon  the  concerns  of 
the  Philippine  colony.  The  Treaty  of  Antwerp,  which 
was  wrung  from  the  Spaniards  in  1609,  twenty-eight 
years  after  the  union  of  Spain  and  Portugal,  broke  the 
scourge  of  their  tyranny,  while  it  failed  to  assuage  the 
mutual  antipathy.  One  of  the  consequences  of  the  "Wars 
of  the  Flanders,"  which  terminated  with  this  treaty,  was 
that  the  Dutch  were  obliged  to  seek  in  the  Far  East  the 
merchandise  which  had  hitherto  been  supplied  to  them 
from  the  Peninsula.  The  short-sighted  policy  of  the 
Spaniards  in  closing  to  the  Dutch  the  Portuguese  mar- 
kets, which  were  now  theirs,  brought  upon  themselves 
the  destruction  of  the  monopolies  which  they  had  gained 
by  the  union.  The  Dutch  were  now  free,  and  their  old 
tyrant's  policy  induced  them  to  independently  establish 
their  own  trading  headquarters  in  the  Moluccas  Islands, 
whence  they  could  obtain  directly  the  produce  forbidden 
to  them  in  the  home  ports.  Hence,  from  those  islands, 


282  HISTORY   OF  SPAIN. 

the  ships  of  a  powerful  Netherlands  Trading  Company 
sallied  forth  from  time  to  time  to  meet  the  Spanish  gal- 
leons from  Mexico  with  silver  and  manufactured  goods. 

Previous  to  this,  and  during  the  "Wars  of  the  Flanders, 
Dutch  corsairs  hovered  about  the  waters  of  the  Moluccas, 
to  take  reprisals  from  the  Spaniards.  These  encounters 
frequently  took  place  at  the  eastern  entrance  of  the  San 
Bernadino  Straits,  where  the  Dutch  were  accustomed  to 
hove-to  in  anticipation  of  the  arrival  of  their  prizes. 

In  this  manner,  constantly  roving  about  the  Philippine 
waters,  they  enriched  themselves  at  the  expense  of  their 
detested  adversary,  and,  in  a  small  degree,  avenged  them- 
selves of  the  bloodshed  and  oppression  which  for  over  sixty 
years  had  desolated  the  Low  Countries. 

The  Philippine  colony  lost  immense  sums  in  the  seizure 
of  its  galleons  from  Mexico,  upon  which  it  almost  entirely 
depended  for  subsistence.  Being  a  dependency  of  New 
Spain,  its  whole  intercourse  with  the  civilized  world,  its 
supplies  of  troops  and  European  manufactured  articles, 
were  contingent  upon  the  safe  arrival  of  the  galleons. 
Also  the  dollars  with  which  they  annually  purchased  car- 
goes from  the  Chinese  for  the  galleons  came  from  Mexico. 

Consequently,  the  Dutch  usually  took  the  aggressive  in 
these  sea-battles,  although  they  were  not  always  victori- 
ous. When  there  were  no  ships  to  meet,  they  bombarded 
the  ports  where  others  were  being  built.  The  Spaniards, 
on  their  part,  from  time  to  time  fitted  out  vessels  to  run 
down  to  the  Moluccas  Islands  to  attack  the  enemy  in  hie 
own  waters. 

During  the  governorship  of  Gomez  Perez  Dasmarmas 
(1590-1593),  the  native  king  of  Siao  Island — one  of  the 


THE    PHILIPPINES.  283 

Moluccas  group — came  to  Manila  to  offer  homage  and  vas- 
salage to  the  representative  of  the  King  of  Spain  and 
Portugal,  in  return  for  protection  against  the  incursions 
of  the  Dutch  and  the  raids  of  the  Ternate  natives.  Das- 
marinas  received  him  and  the  Spanish  priests  who  accom- 
panied him  with  affability,  and,  being  satisfied  with  his 
credentials,  he  prepared  a  large  expedition  to  go  to  the 
Moluccas  to  set  matters  in  order.  The  fleet  was  com- 
posed of  several  frigates,  one  ship,  six  galleys  and  one 
hundred  small  vessels,  all  well  armed.  The  fighting  men 
numbered  one  hundred  Spaniards,  four  hundred  Pampanga 
and  Tagalog  arquebusiers,  one  thousand  Visayas  archers 
and  lancers,  besides  one  hundred  Chinese  to  row  the  gal- 
leys. This  expedition,  which  was  calculated  to  be  amply 
sufficient  to  subdue  all  the  Moluccas,  sailed  from  Cavite 
on  the  6th  of  October,  1593.  The  sailing  ships  having 
got  far  ahead  of  the  galleys,  they  hove-to  off  Punta  de 
Azufre  (N.  of  Maricaban  Island)  to  wait  for  them.  The 
galleys  arrived;  and  the  next  day  they  were  able  to  start 
again  in  company.  Meanwhile  a  conspiracy  was  formed 
by  the  Chinese  galleymen  to  murder  all  the  Spaniards. 
Assuming  these  Chinese  to  be  volunteers,  their  action 
would  appear  most  wanton  and  base.  If,  however,  as 
is  most  probable,  they  were  pressed  into  this  military 
service  to  foreigners,  it  seems  quite  natural  that,  being 
forced  to  bloodshed  without  alternative,  they  should  first 
fight  for  their  own  liberty. 

All  but  the  Chinese  were  asleep,  and  they  fell  upon 
the  Spaniards  in  a  body.  Eighteen  of  the  troops  and 
four  slaves  escaped  by  jumping  into  the  sea.  The  gov- 
ernor was  sleeping  in  his  cabin,  but  awoke  on  hearing 


284  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

the  noise.  He  supposed  the  ship  had  grounded,  and  was 
coming  up  the  companion  en  deshabille,  when  a  China- 
man cleaved  his  head  with  a  cutlass.  The  governor 
reached  his  state-room,  and  taking  his  missal  and  the 
Image  of  the  Virgin  in  his  hand,  he  died  in  six  hours. 
The  Chinese  did  not  venture  below,  where  the  priests  and 
armed  soldiers  were  hidden.  They  cleared  the  decks  of 
all  their  opponents,  made  fast  the  hatches  and  gangways, 
and  waited  three  days,  when,  after  putting  ashore  those 
who  were  still  alive,  they  escaped  to  Cochin-China,  where 
the  king  and  mandarins  seized  the  vessel  and  all  she  car- 
ried. On  board  were  found  twelve  thousand  dollars  in 
coin,  some  silver,  and  jewels  belonging  to  the  governor 
and  his  suite. 

Thus  the  expedition  was  brought  to  an  untimely  end. 
The  King  of  Siao,  and  the  missionaries  accompanying 
him,  had  started  in  advance  for  Otong  (Panay  Island) 
to  wait  for  the  governor,  and  there  they  received  the 
news  of  the  disaster. 

Among  the  most  notable  of  the  successful  expeditions 
of  the  Spaniards  was  that  of  Pedro  Bravo  de  Acuna,  in 
1606,  which  consisted  of  nineteen  frigates,  nine  galleys 
and  eight  small  craft,  carrying  a  total  of  about  two  thou- 
sand men  and  provisions  for  a  prolonged  struggle.  The 
result  was,  that  they  subdued  a  petty  sultan  friendly  to 
the  Dutch,  and  established  a  fortress  on  his  island. 

About  the  year  1607,  the  supreme  court  (the  gover- 
norship being  vacant  from  1606  to  1608),  hearing  that 
a  Dutch  vessel  was  hovering  off  Ternate,  sent  a  ship 
against  it,  commanded  by  Pedro  de  Heredia.  A  com- 
bat ensued.  The  Dutch  commander  was  taken  prisoner 


THE  PHILIPPINES.  285 

with  several  of  his  men,  and  lodged  in  the  fort  at  Ter- 
nate,  but  was  ransomed  on  payment  of  fifty  thousand 
dollars  to  the  Spanish  commander.  Heredia  returned 
joyfully  to  Manila,  where,  much  to  his  surprise,  he  was 
prosecuted  by  the  supreme  court  for  exceeding  his  in- 
structions, and  expired  of  melancholy.  The  ransomed 
Dutch  leader  was  making  his  way  back  to  his  head- 
quarters in  a  small  ship,  peacefully,  and  without  hostil- 
izing  the  Spaniards  in  any  way,  when  the  supreme  court 
treacherously  sent  a  galley  and  a  frigate  after  him  to 
make  him  prisoner  a  second  time.  Overwhelmed  by 
numbers  and  arms,  and  little  expecting  such  perfidious 
conduct  of  the  Spaniards,  he  was  at  once  arrested  and 
brought  to  Manila.  The  Dutch  returned  twenty -two 
Spanish  prisoners  of  war  to  Manila  to  ransom  him;  but 
while  these  were,  retained,  the  Dutch  commander  was, 
nevertheless,  imprisoned  for  life. 

Some  years  afterward,  a  Dutch  squadron  anchored  off 
the  south  point  of  Bataan  Province,  not  far  from  Punta 
Marivelez,  at  the  entrance  to  Manila  Bay.  Juan  de  Silva, 
the  governor  (from  1609  to  1616),  was  in  great  straits. 
Several  ships  had  been  lost  by  storms,  others  were  away, 
and  there  was  no  adequate  floating  armament  with  which 
to  meet  the  enemy.  However,  the  Dutch  lay-to  for  five 
or  six  months,  waiting  to  seize  the  Chinese  and  Japanese 
traders'  goods  on  their  way  to  the  Manila  market.  They 
secured  immense  booty,  and  were  in  no  hurry  to  open 
hostilities.  This  delay  gave  Silva  time  to  prepare  vessels 
to  attack  the  foe.  In  the  interval,  he  dreamed  that  Saint 
Mark  had  offered  to  help  him  defeat  the  Dutch.  On 
awaking,  he  called  a  priest,  whom  he  consulted  about 


286  HISTORY   OF  SPAIN. 

the  dream,  and  they  agreed  that  the  nocturnal  vision 
was  a  sign  from  Heaven  denoting  a  victory.  The  priest 
went  (from  Cavite)  to  Manila  to  procure  a  relic  of  this 
glorious  intercessor,  and  returned  with  his  portrait  to  the 
governor,  who  adored  it.  In  haste  the  ships  and  arma- 
ment were  prepared.  On  Saint  Mark's  day,  therefore, 
the  Spaniards  sallied  forth  from  Cavite  with  six  ships, 
carrying  seventy  guns,  and  two  galleys  and  two  launches 
also  well  armed,  besides  a  number  of  small  light  vessels, 
to  assist  in  the  formation  of  line  of  battle. 

A.11  the  European  fighting  men  in  Manila  and  Cavite 
embarked — over  one  thousand  Spaniards — the  flower  of  the 
colony,  together  with  a  large  force  of  natives,  who  were 
taught  to  believe  that  the  Dutch  were  infidels.  On  the 
issue  of  this  day's  events  perchance  depended  the  posses- 
sion of  the  colony.  Manila  and  Cavite  were  garrisoned  by 
volunteers.  Orations  were  offered  in  the  churches.  The 
Miraculous  Image  of  Our  Lady  of  the  Guide  was  taken 
in  procession  from  the  Hermit,  and  exposed  to  public  view 
in  the  Cathedral.  The  saints  of  the  different  churches 
and  sanctuaries  were  adored  and  exhibited  daily.  The 
governor  himself  took  the  supreme  command,  and  dis- 
pelled all  wavering  doubt  in  his  subordinates  by  proclaim- 
ing Saint  Mark's  promise  of  intercession.  On  his  ship  he 

» 

hoisted  the  royal  standard,  on  which  was  embroidered 
the  Image  of  the  Holy  Virgin,  with  the  motto:  "Mostrate 
esse  Matrem,"  and  over  a  beautifully  calm  sea  he  led  the 
way  to  battle. 

A  shot  from  the  Spanish  heavy  artillery  opened  the 
bloody  combat.  The  Dutch  were  completely  vanquished, 
after  a  fierce  struggle  which  lasted  six  hours.  Their 


THE   PHILIPPINES.  287 

three  ships  were  destroyed,  and  their  flags,  artillery,  and 
plundered  merchandise  to  the  value  of  three  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  were  seized.  This  famous  engagement  was 
thenceforth  known  as  the  battle  of  Playa  Honda. 

Again  in  1611,  under  Silva,  a  squadron  sailed  io  the 
Moluccas  and  defeated  the  Dutch  off  Gilolo  Island. 

In  1617,  the  Spaniards  had  a  successful  engagement 
off  the  Zambales  coast  with  the  Dutch,  who  lost  three 
of  their  ships. 

In  July,  1620,  three  Mexican  galleons  were  met  by 
three  Dutch  vessels  off  Cape  Espiritu  Santo  (Samar  Isl- 
and), at  the  entrance  of  the  San  Bernadino  Straits,  but 
managed  to  escape  in  the  dark.  Two  ran  ashore  and 
broke  up;  the  third  reached  Manila.  After  this  the  gov- 
ernor-general, Alonzo  Fajardo  de  Tua,  ordered  the  course 
of  the  State  ships  to  be  varied  on  each  voyage. 

In  1625,  the  Dutch  again  appeared  off  the  Zambales 
coast,  and  Geronimo  de  Silva  went  out  against  them. 
The  Spaniards,  having  lost  one  man,  relinquished  the 
pursuit  of  the  enemy,  and  the  commander  was  brought 
to  trial  by  the  supreme  court. 

In  1626,  at  the  close  of  the  governorship  of  Fernando 
de  Silva,  a  Spanish  colony  was  founded  on  Formosa  Isl- 
and, but  no  supplies  were  sent  to  it,  and  consequently  in 
1642  it  surrendered  to  the  Dutch,  who  held  it  for  twenty 
years,  until  they  were  driven  out  by  the  Chinese  advent- 
urer Keuseng.  And  thus  for  over  a  century  and  a  half 
the  strife  continued,  until  the  Dutch  concentrated  their 
attention  in  the  development  of  their  Eastern  colonies, 
which  the  power  of  Spain,  growing  more  and  more  effete, 
was  incompetent  to  impede. 

13 


388  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

In  1761,  King  George  III.  had  just  succeeded  to  the 
throne  of  England,  and  the  protracted  contentions  with 
France  had  been  suspended  for  a  while.  It  was  soon  evi- 
dent, however,  that  efforts  were  being  employed  to  extin- 
guish the  power  and  prestige  of  Great  Britain,  and  with 
this  object  a  convention  had  been  entered  into  between 
France  and  Spain  known  as  the  "Family  Compact."  It 
was  so  called  because  it  was  an  alliance  made  by  the  three 
branches  of  the  House  of  Bourbon;  namely,  Louis  XV. 
of  France,  Charles  III.  of  Spain,  and  his  son  Ferdinand, 
who,  in  accordance  with  the  Treaty  of  Vienna,  had 
ascended  the  throne  of  Naples.  Spain  engaged  to  unite 
her  forces  with  those  of  France  against  England  on  the 
1st  of  May,  1762,  if  the  war  still  lasted,  in  which  case 
France  would  restore  Minorca  to  Spain.  Pitt  was  con- 
vinced of  the  necessity  of  meeting  the  coalition  by  force 
of  arms,  but  he  was  unable  to  secure  the  support  of  his 
Ministry  to  declare  war,  and  he  therefore  retired  from  the 
premiership.  The  succeeding  Cabinet  was,  nevertheless, 
compelled  to  adopt  his  policy,  and,  after  having  lost  many 
advantages  by  delaying  their  decision,  war  was  declared 
against  France  and  Spain. 

The  British  were  successful  everywhere.  In  the  West 
Indies,  the  Caribbean  Islands  and  Havana  were  captured, 
with  great  booty,  by  Rodney  and  Monckton,  while  a  Brit- 
ish fleet  was  dispatched  to  the  Philippine  Islands  with 
orders  to  take  Manila. 

There  are  many  versions  of  this  event  given  by  differ- 
ent historians,  and  among  them  there  is  not  wanting  an 
author  who,  following  the  Spanish  custom,  has  accounted 
for  defeat  by  alleging  treason. 


THE   PHILIPPINES.  289 

On  the  14th  of  September,  1762,  a  British  vessel  ar- 
rived in  the  Bay  of  Manila,  refused  to  admit  Spanish 
.officers  on  board,  and  after  taking  soundings  she  sailed 
again  out  of  the  harbor. 

In  the  evening  of  the  22d  of  September,  the  British 
squadron,  composed  of  thirteen  ships,  under  the  command 
of  Admiral  Cornish,  entered  the  bay,  and  the  next  day 
two  British  officers  were  deputed  to  demand  the  surren- 
der of  the  citadel,  which  was  refused. 

Brigadier-general  Draper  thereupon  disembarked  his 
troops,  and  again  called  upon  the  city  to  yield.  This 
citation  being  defied,  the  bombardment  commenced  the 
next  day.  The  fleet  anchored  in  front  of  a  powder- 
magazine,  took  possession  of  the  churches  of  Malate, 
Hermita,  San  Juan  de  Bagumbayan  and  Santiago.  Two 
picket  guards  made  an  unsuccessful  sortie  against  them. 
The  whole  force  in  Manila  at  the  time  was  the  king's 
regiment,  which  mustered  about  six  hundred  men  and 
eighty  pieces  of  artillery.  The  British  forces  consisted 
of  one  thousand  five  hundred  European  troops  (one  regi- 
ment of  infantry  and  two  companies  of  artillery),  three 
thousand  seamen,  eight  hundred  Sepoy  fusileers  and  one 
thousand  four  hundred  Sepoy  prisoners,  making  a  total  of 
six  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty  men. 

There  was  no  governor-general  here  at  the  time,  and 
the  only  person  with  whom  the  British  commander  could 
treat  was  the  acting-governor,  the  Archbishop  Manuel 
Antonio  Rojo,  who  was  willing  to  yield.  His  authority 
was,  however,  set  aside  by  a  rebellious  war  party,  who 
placed  themselves  under  the  leadership  of  a  magistrate 
of  the  supreme  court  named  Simon  de  Anda  y  Salazar. 


290  HISTORY   OF  SPAIN. 

This  individual,  instead  of  heading  them  to  battle,  fled 
to  the  province  of  Bulacan,  the  day  before  the  capture  of 
Manila,  in  a  prahu  with  a  few  natives,  carrying  with  him 
some  money  and  half  a  ream  of  official  stamped  paper. 
He  knew  perfectly  well  that  he  was  defying  the  legal 
authority  of  the  acting-governor,  and  was,  in  fact,  in 
open  rebellion  against  his  mandate.  It  was  necessary, 
therefore,  to  give  an  official  color  to  his  acts  by  issuing 
his  orders  and  proclamations  on  government-stamped  paper, 
so  that  their  validity  might  be  recognized  if  he  subsequently 
succeeded  in  justifying  his  action  at  court. 

On  the  24th  of  September  the  Spanish  batteries  of  San 
Diego  and  San  Andres  opened  fire,  but  with  little  effect. 
A  richly  laden  galleon — the  "Philipino" — was  known  to 
be  on  her  way  from  Mexico  to  Manila,  but  the  British 
ships  which  were  sent  in  quest  of  her  fell  in  with  another 
galleon — the  "Trinidad" — and  brought  their  prize  to  Ma- 
nila. Her  treasure  amounted  to  about  two  million  five 
hundred  thousand  dollars. 

A  Frenchman  resident  in  Manila,  Monsieur  Faller, 
made  an  attack  on  the  British,  who  forced  him  to  retire, 
and  he  was  then  accused  by  the  Spaniards  of  treason. 
Artillery  fire  was  kept  up  on  both  sides.  The  arch- 
bishop's nephew  was  taken  prisoner,  and  an  officer  was 
sent  with  him  to  hand  him  over  to  his  uncle.  However, 
a  party  of  natives  fell  upon  them  and  murdered  them  all. 
The  officer's  head  having  been  cut  off,  it  was  demanded 
by  General  Draper.  Excuses  were  made  for  not  giving 
it  up,  and  the  general  determined  thenceforth  to  continue 
the  warfare  with  vigor  and  punish  this  atrocity.  The  ar- 
tillery was  increased  by  another  battery  of  three  mortars, 


THE   PHILIPPINES.  291 

placed  behind  the  Church  of  Santiago,  and  the  bombard- 
ment continued. 

Five  thousand  native  recruits  arrived  from  the  prov- 
inces, and  out  of  this  number  two  thousand  Pampangos 
were  selected.  They  were  divided  into  three  columns, 
in  order  to  advance  by  different  routes  and  attack  re- 
spectively the  Church  of  Santiago,  Malate  and  Hermita, 
and  the  troops  on  the  beach.  At  each  place  they  were 
driven  back.  The  leader  of  the  attack  on  Malate  and 
Hermita — Don  Santiago  Orendain — was  declared  a  traitor. 
The  two  first  columns  were  dispersed  with  great  confu- 
sion and  loss.  The  third  column  retreated  before  they 
had  sustained  or  inflicted  any  loss.  The  natives  fled  to 
their  villages  in  dismay,  and  on  the  5th  of  October  the 
British  entered  the  walled  city.  After  a  couple  of  hours' 
bombardment  the  forts  of  San  Andres  and  San  Eugenio 
were  demolished,  the  artillery  overturned,  and  the  enemy's 
fusileers  and  sappers  were  killed, 

A  council  of  war  was  now  held  by  the  Spaniards. 
General  Draper  sustained  the  authority  of  the  archbishop 
against  the  war-party,  composed  chiefly  of  civilians,  who 
determined  to  continue  the  defense  in  spite  of  the  opinion 
of  the  military  men,  who  argued  that  a  capitulation  was 
inevitable.  But  matters  were  brought  to  a  crisis  by  the 
natives,  who  refused  to  repair  the  fortifications,  and  the 
Europeans  were  unable  to  perform  such  hard  labor.  Great 
confusion  reigned  in  the  city — the  clergy  fled  through  the 
Puerta  del  Parian,  where  there  was  still  a  native  guard. 
According  to  Zuniga,  the  British  spent  twenty  thousand 
cannon  balls  and  five  thousand  shells  ip  the  bombardment 
of  the  city. 


293  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

Major  Fell  entered  the  city  at  the  head  of  his  troops 
and  General  Draper  followed,  leading  his  column  unop- 
posed, with  two  field  pieces  in  the  van,  while  a  constant 
musketry  fire  cleared  the  Calle  Real  as  they  advanced. 
The  people  fled  before  the  enemy.  The  gates  being 
closed,  they  scrambled  up  the  walls  and  got  into  boats 
or  swam  off. 

Colonel  Monson  was  sent  by  Draper  to  the  archbishop- 
governor  to  say  that  he  expected  immediate  surrender. 
This  was  disputed  by  the  archbishop,  who  presented  a 
paper  purporting  to  be  terms  of  capitulation.  The  colonel 
refused  to  take  it,  and  demanded  an  unconditional  surren- 
der. Then  the  archbishop,  a  colonel  of  the  Spanigh  troops 
and  Colonel  Monson  went  to  interview  the  general,  whose 
quarters  were  in  the  palace.  The  archbishop,  offering 
himself  as  a  prisoner,  presented  the  terms  of  capitula- 
tion, which  provided  for  the  free  exercise  of  their  relig- 
ion; security  of  private  property;  free  trade  to  all  the 
inhabitants  of  the  islands,  and  the  continuation  of  the 
powers  of  the  supreme  court  to  keep  order  among  the  ill- 
disposed.  These  terms  were  granted,  but  General  Draper, 
on  his  part,  stipulated  for  an  indemnity  of  four  millions 
of  dollars,  and  it  was  agreed  to  pay  one-half  of  this  sum 
in  specie  and  valuables  and  the  other  half  in  treasury  bills 
on  Madrid.  The  capitulation,  with  these  modifications, 
was  signed  by  Draper  and  the  archbishop  -  governor. 
The  Spanish  colonel  took  the  document  to  the  fort  to 
have  it  countersigned  by  the  magistrates,  which  was  at 
once  done;  the  fort  was  delivered  up  to  the  British,  and 
the  magistrates  retired  to  the  palace  to  pay  their  respects 
to  the  conqueror. 


THE   PHILIPPINES.  293 

When  the  British  flag  was  seen  floating  from  the  fort 
of  Santiago  there  was  great  cheering  from  the  British 
fleet.  The  archbishop  stated  that  when  Draper  reviewed 
the  troops  more  than  one  thousand  men  were  missing,  in- 
cluding sixteen  officers.  Among  these  officers  were  a 
major,  fatally  wounded  by  an  arrow  on  the  first  day  of 
the  assault,  and  the  vice-admiral,  who  was  drowned  while 
coming  ashore  in  a  boat. 

The  natives  who  had  been  brought  from  the  provinces 
to  Manila  were  plundering  and  committing  excesses  in  the 
city,  so  Draper  had  them  all  driven  out.  Guards  were 
placed  at  the  doors  of  the  nunneries  and  convents  to  pre- 
vent outrages  on  the  women,  and  then  the  city  was  given 
up  to  the  victorious  troops  for  pillage  during  three  hours. 
Zuniga,  however,  remarks  that  the  European  troops  were 
moderate,  but  that  the  Indian  contingents  were  insatiable. 
They  are  said  to  have  committed  many  atrocities,  and, 
reveling  in  bloodshed,  even  murdered  the  inhabitants. 
They  ransacked  the  suburbs  of  Santa  Cruz  and  Binondo, 
and,  acting  like  savage  victorious  tribes,  they  ravished 
women,  and  even  went  into  the  highways  to  murder  and 
rob  those  who  fled.  The  three  hours  expired,  and  the  fol- 
lowing day  a  similar  scene  was  permitted.  The  arch- 
bishop thereupon  besought  the  general  to  put  a  stop  to 
it,  and  have  compassion  on  the  city.  The  general  com- 
plied with  this  request,  and  restored  order  under  pain  of 
death  for  disobedience — some  Chinese  were  in  consequence 
hanged.  General  Draper  himself  killed  one  whom  he 
found  in  the  act  of  stealing,  and  he  ordered  that  all 
church  property  should  be  restored,  but  only  some  priests' 
vestments  were  recovered. 


294  HISTORY    OF   SPAIN. 

Draper  demanded  the  surrender  of  Cavite,  which  was 
agreed  to  by  the  archbishop  and  magistrates,  but  the 
commanding  officer  refused  to  comply.  The  major  of 
that  garrison  was  sent  with  a  message  to  the  commander, 
but  on  the  way  he  talked  with  such  freedom  about  the 
surrender  to  the  British,  that  the  natives  quitted  their 
posts  and  plundered  the  arsenal.  The  commander,  rather 
than  face  humiliation,  retired  to  a  ship,  and  left  all  fur- 
ther responsibility  to  the  major. 

Measures  were  now  taken  to  pay  the  agreed  indem- 
nity. Heavy  contributions  were  levied  upon  the  inhabi- 
tants, which,  however,  together  with  the  silver  from  the 
pious  establishments,  church  ornaments,  plate,  the  arch- 
bishop's rings  and  breast-cross,  only  amounted  to  five 
hundred  and  forty-six  thousand  dollars.  The  British  then 
proposed  to  accept  one  million  at  once  and  draw  the  rest 
from  the  cargo  of  the  galleon  "Philipino,"  if  it  result  d 
that  she  had  not  been  seized  by  the  British  previous  to 
the  day  the  capitulation  was  signed — but  the  one  million 
was  not  forthcoming.  The  day  before  the  capture  of 
Manila,  a  royal  messenger  had  been  sent  off  with  one 
hundred  and  eleven  thousand  dollars,  with  orders  to  se- 
cure it  in  some  place  in  the  Laguna  de  Bay.  The  arch- 
bishop now  ordered  its  return  to  Manila,  and  issued  a 
requisition  to  that  effect;  but  the  Franciscan  friars  were 
insubordinate,  and  armed  the  natives,  whom  they  virtually 
ruled,  and  the  treasure  was  secreted  in  Majayjay  Convent. 
Thence,  on  receipt  of  the  archbishop's  message,  it  was 
carried  across  country  to  a  place  in  North  Pampanga, 
bordering  on  Cagayan  and  Pangasinan.  The  British,  con- 
vinced that  they  were  being  duped,  insisted  on  their  claim. 


THE  PHILIPPINES.  295 

Thomas  Backhouse,  commanding  the  troops  stationed  at 
Pasig,  went  up  to  the  Laguna  de  Bay  with  eighty  mixed 
troops,  to  intercept  the  bringing  of  the  "Philipino"  treas- 
ure. He  attacked  Tunasan,  Vinan  and  Santa  Rosa,  and 
embarked  for  Pagsanjan,  which  was  then  the  capital  of 
the  Lake  Province.  The  inhabitants,  after  firing  the  con- 
vent and  church,  fled.  Backhouse  returned  to  Calamba, 
entered  the  Province  of  Batangas,  overran  it,  and  made 
several  Austin  friars  prisoners.  In  Lipa  he  seized  three 
thousand  dollars,  and  there  he  established  his  quarters, 
expecting  that  the  "Philipino"  treasure  would  be  carried 
that  way;  but  on  learning  that  it  had  been  transported 
by  sea  to  a  Pampanga  coast  town,  Backhouse  withdrew 
to  Pasig 

In  the  capitulation,  the  whole  of  the  Archipelago  was 
surrendered  to  the  British,  but  Simon  de  Anda  determined 
to  appeal  to  arms.  Draper  used  stratagem,  and  issued  a 
proclamation  commiserating  the  fate  of  the  natives  who 
paid  tribute  to  Spaniards,  and  assuring  them  that  the 
King  of  England  would  not  exact  it.  The  archbishop, 
as  governor,  became  Draper's  tool,  sent  messages  to  the 
Spanish  families  persuading  them  to  return,  and  appointed 
an  Englishman,  married  in  the  country,  to  be  alderman 
of  Ton  do.  Despite  the  strenuous  opposition  of  the  su- 
preme court,  the  archbishop,  at  the  instance  of  Draper, 
convened  a  council  of  native  headmen  and  representative 
families,  and  proposed  to  them  the  cession  of  all  the  isl- 
ands to  the  King  of  England.  Draper  clearly  saw  that 
the  ruling  powers  in  the  colony,  judging  from  their  energy 
and  effective  measures,  were  the  friars,  so  he  treated  them 
with  great  respect.  The  Frenchman  Faller,  who  unsuc- 


296  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

eessfully  opposed  the  British  assault,  was  offered  troops 
to  go  and  take  possession  of  Zamboanga  and  accept  the 
government  there,  but  he  refused,  as  did  also  a  Spaniard 
named  Sandoval. 

Draper  returned  to  Europe;  Major  Fell  was  left  in 
command  of  the  troops,  while  Drake  assumed  the  mili- 
tary government  of  the  city,  with  Smith  and  Brock  as 
council,  and  Brereton  in  charge  of  Cavite.  Draper,  on 
leaving,  gave  orders  for  two  frigates  to  go  in  search  of 
the  "Philipino"  treasure.  The  ships  got  as  far  as  Capul 
Island  and  put  into  harbor.  They  were  detained  there  by 
a  ruse  on  the  part  of  a  half-caste  pilot,  and  the  treasure 
was  got  away  in  the  meantime. 

Simon  de  Anda,  from  his  provincial  retreat,  proclaimed 
himself  governor-general.  He  declared  that  the  archbishop 
and  the  magistrates,  as  prisoners  of  war,  were  dead  in 
the  eye  of  the  law;  and  that  his  assumption  of  authority 
was  based  upon  old  laws.  None  of  his  countrymen  dis- 
puted his  authority,  and  he  established  himself  in  Bacolor. 
The  British  council  then  convened  a  meeting  of  the  chief 
inhabitants,  at  which  Anda  was  declared  a  seditious  per- 
son and  deserving  of  capital  punishment,  together  with 
the  Marquis  of  Monte  Castro,  who  had  violated  his  parole 
d'honneur,  and  the  provincial  of  the  Austin  friars,  who 
had  joined  the  rebel  party.  All  the  Austin  friars  were 
declared  traitors  for  having  broken  their  allegiance  to  the 
archbishop's  authority.  The  British  still  pressed  for  the 
payment  of  the  one  million,  while  the  Spaniards  declared 
they  possessed  no  more.  The  Austin  friars  were  ordered 
to  keep  the  natives  peaceable  if  they  did  not  wish  to 
provoke  hostilities  against  themselves.  At  length,  the 


THE  PHILIPPINES.  297 

British,  convinced  of  the  futility  of  decrees,  determined  to 
sally  out  with  their  forces;  and  five  hundred  men  under 
Thomas  Backhouse  went  up  the  Pasig  River  to  secure  a 
free  passage  for  supplies  to  the  camp.  While  opposite  to 
Maybonga,  Bustos,  with  his  Cagayan  troops,  fired  on 
them.  The  British  returned  the  fire,  and  Bustos  fled  to 
Mariquina.  The  British  passed  the  river,  and  sent  an 
officer  with  a  white  flag  of  truce  to  summon  surrender. 
Bustos  was  insolent,  and  threatened  to  hang  the  officer 
if  be  returned.  Backhouse's  troops  then  opened  fire  and 
placed  two  field  pieces  which  completely  scared  the  na- 
tives, who  fled  in  such  great  confusion  that  many  were 
drowned  in  the  river.  Thence  the  British  pursued  their 
enemy  "as  if  they  were  a  flock  of  goats,"  and  reached 
the  Bamban  River,  where  the  Sultan  of  Sulu  resided  with 
his  family.  The  sultan,  after  a  feigned  resistance,  fell  a 
prisoner  to  the  British,  who  fortified  his  dwelling,  and 
occupied  it  during  the  whole  of  the  operations.  There 
were  subsequent  skirmishes  on  the  Pasig  River  banks 
with  the  armed  insurgents,  who  were  driven  as  far  as 
the  Antipolo  Mountains. 

Meanwhile,  Anda  collected  troops;  and  Bustos,  as  his 
lieutenant-general,  vaunted  the  power  of  his  chief  through 
the  Bulacan  and  Pampanga  provinces.  A  Franciscan  and 
an  Austin  friar,  having  led  troops  to  Masilo,  about  seven 
miles  from  Manila,  the  British  went  out  to  dislodge  them, 
but  on  their  approach  most  of  the  natives  feigned  they 
were  dead,  and  the  British  returned  without  any  loss  in 
arms  or  men. 

The  British,  believing  that  the  Austin  friars  were  con- 
spiring against  them  in  connivance  with  those  inside  the 


298  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

city,  placed  these  friars  in  confinement,  and  subsequently 
shipped  away  eleven  of  them  to  Europe.  For  the  same 
reason,  they  at  last  determined  to  enter  the  St.  Augustine 
Convent,  and  on  ransacking  it  they  found  that  the  priests 
had  been  lying  to  them  all  the  time.  Six  thousand  dol- 
lars in  coin  were  found  hidden  in  the  garden,  and  large 
quantities  of  wrought  silver  elsewhere.  The  whole  prem- 
ises were  then  searched  and  all  the  valuables  were  seized. 
A  British  expedition  went  out  to  Bulacan,  sailing  across 
the  bay  and  up  the  Hagonoy  River,  where  they  disem- 
barked at  Malolos  on  the  19th  of  January,  1763.  The 
troops,  under  Captain  Eslay,  of  the  Grenadiers,  numbered 
six  hundred  men,  many  of  whom  were  Chinese  volunteers. 
As  they  advanced  from  Malolos,  the  natives  and  Spaniards 
fled.  On  the  way  to  Bulacan,  Bustos  advanced  to  meet 
them,  but  retreated  into  ambush  on  seeing  they  were  su- 
perior in  numbers.  Bulacan  Convent  was  fortified  with 
three  small  cannon.  As  soon  as  the  troops  were  in  sight 
of  the  convent,  a  desultory  fire  of  case-shot  made  great 
havoc  in  the  ranks  of  the  Chinese  forming  the  British 
vanguard.  At  length  the  British  brought  their  field 
pieces  into  action,  and  pointing  at  the  enemy's  cannon, 
the  first  discharge  carried  off  the  head  of  their  artillery- 
man Ybarra.  The  panic-stricken  natives  decamped;  the 
convent  was  taken  by  assault;  there  was  an  indiscrimi- 
nate fight  and  general  slaughter.  The  alcalde  and  a 
Franciscan  friar  fell  in  action;  one  Austin  friar  escaped, 
and  another  was  seized  and  killed  to  avenge  the  death 
of  the  British  soldiers.  The  invading  forces  occupied  the 
convent,  and  some  of  the  troops  were  shortly  sent  back 
to  Manila.  Bustos  reappeared  near  the  Bulacan  convent 


THE  PHILIPPINES.  299 

with  eight  thousand  native  troops,  of  which  six  hundred 
were  cavalry,  but  they  dared  not  attack  the  British. 
Bustos  then  maneuvered  in  the  neighborhood  and  made 
occasional  alarms.  Small  parties  were  sent  out  against 
him  with  so  little  effect  that  the  British  commander 
headed  a  body  in  person,  and  put  the  whole  of  Bustos' 
troops  to  flight  like  mosquitoes  before  a  gust  of  wind,  for 
Bustos  feared  they  would  be  pursued  into  Pampanga. 
After  clearing  away  the  underwood,  which  served  as  a 
covert  for  the  natives,  the  British  reoccupied  the  convent; 
but  Bustos  returned  to  his  position,  and  was  a  second  time 
as  disgracefully  routed  by  the  British,  who  then  withdrew 
to  Manila. 

At  the  same  time,  it  was  alleged  that  a  conspiracy 
was  being  organized  among  the  Chinese  in  the  Prov- 
ince of  Pampanga  with  the  object  of  assassinating  Anda 
and  his  Spanish  followers.  The  Chinese  cut  trenches  and 
raised  fortifications,  avowing  that  their  bellicose  prepara- 
tions were  only  to  defend  themselves  against  the  possible 
attack  of  the  British;  while  the  Spaniards  saw  in  all  this 
a  connivance  with  the  invaders.  The  latter,  no  doubt, 
conjectured  rightly.  Anda,  acting  upon  the  views  of  his 
party,  precipitated  matters  by  appearing  with  fourteen 
Spanish  soldiers  and  a  crowd  of  native  bowmen  to  com- 
mence the  slaughter  in  the  town  of  Guagua.  The  Chinese 
assembled  there  in  great  numbers,  and  Anda  endeavored 
in  vain  to  induce  them  to  surrender  to  him.  He  then  sent 
a  Spaniard,  named  Miguel  Garces,  with  a  message,  offer- 
ing them  pardon  in  the  name  of  the  King  of  Spain  if 
they  would  lay  down  their  arms;  but  they  killed  the 
emissary,  and  Anda  therefore  commenced  the  attack. 


300  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

The  result  was  favorable  for  Anda's  party,  and  great 
numbers  of  the  Chinese  were  slain.  Many  fled  to  the 
fields,  where  they  were  pursued  by  the  troops,  while  those 
who  were  captured  were  hanged.  Such  was  the  inveter- 
ate hatred  which  Anda  entertained  for  the  Chinese,  that 
he  issued  a  general  decree  declaring  all  the  Chinese  trai- 
tors to  the  Spanish  flag,  and  ordered  them  to  be  hanged 
wherever  they  might  be  found  in  the  provinces.  Thus 
thousands  of  Chinese  were  executed  who  had  taken  no 
part  whatever  in  the  events  of  this  little  war. 

Admiral  Cornish,  having  decided  to  return  to  Europe, 
again  urged  for  the  payment  of  the  two  millions  of  dol- 
lars. The  archbishop  was  in  great  straits;  he  was  willing 
to  do  anything,  but  his  colleagues  opposed  him,  and  Cor- 
nish was  at  length  obliged  to  content  himself  with  a  bill 
on  the  Madrid  treasury.  Anda  appointed  Bustos  alcalde 
of  Bulacan,  and  ordered  him  to  recruit  and  train  troops, 
as  he  still  nurtured  the  hope  of  confining  the  British  to 
Manila— perhaps  even  of  driving  them  out  of  the  colony. 

The  British  in  the  city  were  compelled  to  adopt  the 
most  rigorous  precautions  against  a  rising  of  the  popula- 
tion within  the  walls,  and  several  Spanish  residents  were 
arrested  for  intriguing  against  them  in  concert  with  those 
outside. 

Several  French  prisoners  from  Pondicherry  deserted 
from  the  British;  and  some  Spanish  regular  troops,  who 
had  been  taken  prisoners,  effected  their  escape.  The  fiscal 
of  the  supreme  court  and  a  Senor  Villa  Corta  were  found 
conspiring.  The  latter  was  caught  in  the  act  of  sending 
a  letter  to  Anda,  and  was  sentenced  to  be  hanged  and 
quartered— the  quarters  to  be  exhibited  in  public  places. 


THE   PHILIPPINES.  301 

The  archbishop,  however,  obtained  Villa  Corta's  pardon, 
on  the  condition  that  Anda  should  evacuate  the  Pampanga 
Province;  and  Villa  Corta  wrote  to  Anda,  begging  him  to 
accede  to  this,  but  Anda  absolutely  refused  to  make  any 
sacrifice  to  save  his  friend's  life;  and  at  the  same  time 
he  wrote  a  disgraceful  letter  to  the  archbishop,  couched 
in  such  insulting  terms  that  the  British  commander 
burned  it  without  letting  the  archbishop  see  it.  Villa 
Corta  was  finally  ransomed  by  the  payment  of  three 
thousand  dollars. 

The  treasure  brought  by  the  "Philipino"  served  Anda 
to  organize  a  respectable  force  of  recruits.  Spaniards  who 
were  living  there  in  misery,  and  a  crowd  of  natives  always 
ready  for  pay,  enlisted.  These  forces,  under  Lieutenant- 
general  Bustos,  encamped  at  Malinta,  about  five  miles 
from  Manila.  The  officers  lodged  in  a  house  belonging 
to  the  Austin  friars,  around  which  the  troops  pitched 
their  tents — the  whole  being  defended  by  redoubts  and 
palisades  raised  under  the  direction  of  a  French  deserter, 
who  led  a  company.  From  this  place  Bustos  constantly 
caused  alarm  to  the  British  troops,  who  once  had  to  re- 
treat before  a  picket  guard  sent  to  get  the  church  bells 
of  Quiapo.  The  British,  in  fact,  were  much  molested  by 
Bustos'  Malinta  troops,  who  forced  the  invaders  to  with- 
draw to  Manila  and  reduce  the  extension  of  their  out- 
posts. This  measure  was  followed  up  by  a  proclamation, 
in  which  the  British  commander  alluded  to  Bustos'  troops 
as  "canaille  and  robbers,"  and  offered  a  reward  of  five 
thousand  dollars  for  Anda's  head;  declaring  him  and  his 
party  rebels  and  traitors  to  their  majesties  the  kings  of 
Spain  and  England.  Anda,  chafing  at  his  impotence  to 


302  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

combat  the  invading  party  by  force  of  arms,  gave  vent 
to  his  feelings  of  rage  and  disappointment  by  issuing  a 
decree,  dated  from  Bacolor  the  19th  of  May,  1763,  of 
which  the  translated  text  reads  as  follows: 

"Royal  Government  Tribunal  of  these  Islands  for  His 
Catholic  Majesty:  Whereas  the  Royal  Government  Tri- 
bunal, Supreme  Government  and  Captain-Generalship  of 
His  Catholic  Majesty  in  these  Islands  are  gravely  offended 
at  the  audacity  and  blindness  of  those  men,  who,  forget- 
ting all  humanity,  have  condemned  as  rebellious  and  dis- 
obedient to  both  their  Majesties,  him,  who  as  a  faithful 
vassal  of  His  Catholic  Majesty,  and  in  conformity  with  the 
law,  holds  the  Royal  Tribunal,  Government  and  Captain- 
Generalship;  and  having  suffered  by  a  reward  being  of- 
fered by  order  of  the  British  Governor  in  council  to  whom- 
soever shall  deliver  me  alive  or  dead ;  and  by  their  having 
placed  the  arms  captured  in  Bulacan  at  the  foot  of  the 
gallows — seeing  that  instead  of  their  punishing  and  re- 
proaching such  execrable  proceedings,  the  spirit  of  haughti- 
ness and  pride  is  increasing,  as  shown  in  the  Proclamation 
published  in  Manila  on  the  l?th  instant,  in  which  the 
troops  of  His  Majesty  are  infamously  calumniated — treat- 
ing them  as  blackguards  and  disaffected  to  their  service 
— charging  them  with  plotting  to  assassinate  the  English 
officers  and  soldiers,  and  with  having  fled  when  attacked 
— the  whole  of  these  accusations  being  false:  Now  there- 
fore by  these  presents,  be  it  known  to  all  Spaniards  and 
true  Englishmen  that  Messrs.  Drake,  Smith  and  Brock, 
who  signed  the  Proclamation  referred  to,  must  not  be 
considered  as  vassals  of  His  Britannic  Majesty,  but  as 
tyrants  and  common  enemies  unworthy  of  human  society, 


THE   PHILIPPINES.  303 

and  therefore,  I  order  that  they  be  apprehended  as  such, 
and  I  offer  ten  thousand  dollars  for  each  one  of  them 
alive  or  dead.  At  the  same  time,  I  withdraw  the  order 
to  treat  the  vassals  of  His  Britannic  Majesty  with  all  the 
humanity  which  the  rights  of  war  will  permit,  as  has  been 
practiced  hitherto  with  respect  to  the  prisoners  and  de- 
serters." 

Anda  had  by  this  time  received  the  consent  of  his  king 
to  occupy  the  position  which  he  had  usurped,  and  the  Brit- 
ish commander  was  thus  enabled  to  communicate  officially 
with  him,  if  occasion  required  it;  and  Drake  replied  to 
this  proclamation,  recommending  Anda  to  carry  on  the 
war  with  greater  moderation  and  humanity. 

On  the  27th  of  June,  1763,  the  British  made  a  sortie 
from  the  city  to  dislodge  Bustos,  who  still  occupied  Ma- 
linta.  The  attacking  party  consisted  of  three  hundred  and 
fifty  fusileers,  fifty  horsemen,  a  mob  of  Chinese,  and  a 
number  of  guns  and  ammunition.  The  British  took  up 
quarters  on  one  side  of  the  river,  while  Bustos  remained 
on  the  other.  The  opposing  parties  exchanged  fire,  but 
neither  cared  nor  dared  to  cross  the  waterway.  The  Brit- 
ish forces  retired  in  good  order  to  Masilo,  and  remained 
there  until  they  heard  that  Bustos  had  burned  Malinta 
House  and  removed  his  camp  to  Meycauayan.  Then  the 
British  withdrew  to  Manila  in  the  evening.  On  the  Span- 
ish side  there  were  two  killed,  five  mortally  wounded  and 
two  slightly  wounded.  The  British  losses  were  six  mor- 
tally wounded  and  seven  disabled.  This  was  the  last  en- 
counter in  open  warfare.  Chinamen  occasionally  lost  their 
lives  through  their  love  of  plunder  in  the  vicinity  occupied 
by  the  British. 


304  HISTORY    OF   SPAIN. 

During  these  operations,  the  priesthood  taught  the  ig- 
norant natives  to  believe  that  the  invading  troops  were 
infidels — and  a  holy  war  was  preached. 

The  friars,  especially  those  of  the  Augustine  order,* 
abandoned  their  mission  of  peace  for  that  of  the  sword, 
and  the  British  met  with  a  slight  reverse  at  Masilo,  where 
a  religious  fanatic  of  the  Austin  friars  had  put  himself 
at  the  head  of  a  small  band  lying  in  ambush. 

On  the  23d  of  July,  1763,  a  British  frigate  brought 
news  from  Europe  of  an  armistice — and  the  preliminaries 
of  peace,  by  virtue  of  which  Manila  was  to  be  evacuated 
(Peace  of  Paris,  10th  of  February,  1763),  were  received 
by  the  British  commander  on  the  27th  of  August  follow- 
ing, and  communicated  by  him  to  the  archbishop-gov- 
ernor for  the  "commander-in-chief"  of  the  Spanish  arms. 
Anda  stood  on  his  dignity  and  protested  that  he  should 
be  addressed  directly,  and  be  styled  captain-general.  On 
this  plea  he  declined  to  receive  the  communication.  Drake 
replied  by  a  manifesto,  dated  19th  of  September,  to  the 
effect  that  the  responsibility  of  the  blood  which  might 
be  spilled,  in  consequence  of  Anda's  refusal  to  accept 
his  notification,  would  rest  with  him.  Anda  published  a 
counter  manifesto,  dated  28th  of  September,  in  Bacolor 
(Pampanga),  protesting  that  he  had  not  been  treated 
with  proper  courtesy. 

Greater  latitude  was  allowed  to  the  prisoners,  and 
Villa  Corta  effected  his  escape  dressed  as  a  woman.  He 


*  So  tenacious  was  the  opposition  brought  by  the  Austin 
friars  both  in  Manila  and  the  provinces  that  the  British 
appear  to  have  regarded  them  as  their  special  foes. 


THE    PHILIPPINES.  305 

fled  to  Anda — the  co-conspirator  who  had  refused  to  save 
his  life — and  their  superficial  friendship  was  renewed.  Villa 
Corta  was  left  in  charge  of  business  in  Bacolor  during 
Anda's  temporary  absence.  Meanwhile  the  archbishop 
fell  ill;  and  it  was  discussed  who  should  be  his  successor 
in  the  government  in  the  event  of  his  death.  Villa  Corta 
argued  that  it  fell  to  him  as  senior  magistrate.  The  dis- 
cussion came  to  the  knowledge  of  Anda,  and  seriously 
aroused  his  jealousy.  Fearing  conspiracy  against  his  am- 
bitious projects,  he  left  his  camp  at  Polo,  and  hastened 
to  interrogate  Villa  Corta,  who  explained  that  he  had 
only  made  casual  remarks  in  the  course  of  conversation. 
Anda,  however,  was  restless  on  the  subject  of  the  succes- 
sion, and  sought  the  opinion  of  all  the  chief  priests  and 
bishops.  Various  opinions  existed.  Some  urged  that  the 
decision  be  left  to  the  supreme  court — others  were  in 
favor  of  Anda — while  many  abstained  from  expressing 
their  views.  Anda  was  so  nervously  anxious  about  the 
matter,  that  he  even  begged  the  opinion  of  the  British 
commander,  and  wrote  him  on  the  subject  from  Bacolor 
on  the  2d  of  November,  1763. 

Major  Fell  seriously  quarreled  with  Drake  about  the 
Frenchman  Faller,  whom  Admiral  Cornish  had  left  un- 
der sentence  of  death  for  having  written  a  letter  to  Java 
accusing  him  of  being  a  pirate  and  a  robber.  Drake  pro- 
tected Faller,  while  Fell  demanded  the  execution  of  the 
prisoner;  and  the  dispute  became  so  heated  that  Fell 
was  about  to  slay  Drake  with  a  bayonet,  but  was  pre- 
vented by  some  soldiers.  Fell  then  went  to  London  to 
complain  of  Drake,  hence  Anda's  letter  was  addressed 
to  Backhouse,  who  took  Fell's  place.  Anda,  who  months 


306  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

since  had  refused  to  negotiate  or  treat  with  Drake,  still 
insisted  upon  being  styled  captain- general.  Backhouse 
replied  that  he  was  ignorant  of  the  Spaniards'  statutes 
or  laws,  but  that  he  knew  the  governor  was  the  arch- 
bishop. Anda  thereupon  spread  the  report  that  the  Brit- 
ish commander  had  forged  the  preliminaries  of  peace 
because  he  could  no  longer  hold  out  in  warfare.  The 
British  necessarily  had  to  send  to  the  provinces  to  pur- 
chase provisions,  and  Anda  caused  their  forage  parties 
to  be  attacked,  so  that  the  war  really  continued,  in  spite 
of  the  news  of  peace,  until  the  30th  of  January,  17<U. 
On  this  day  the  archbishop  died,  sorely  grieved  at  the 
situation,  and  weighed  down  with  cares.  He  had  en- 
gaged to  pay  four  millions  of  dollars  and  surrender  the 
islands,  but  could  he  indeed  have  refused  any  terms? 
The  British  were  in  possession;  and  these  conditions  were 
dictated  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet. 

Immediately  after  the  funeral  of  the  archbishop,  Anda 
received  dispatches  from  the  King  of  Spam,  by  way  of 
China,  confirming  the  news  of  peace  to  his  governor  at 
Manila.  Then  the  British  acknowledged  Anda  as  gov- 
ernor, and  proceeded  to  evacuate  the  city;  but  rival  fac- 
tions were  not  so  easily  set  aside,  and  fierce  quarrels  en- 
sued between  the  respective  parties  of  Anda,  Villa  Corta 
and  Ustariz,  as  to  who  should  be  governor  and  receive  the 
city  officially  from  the  British.  Anda,  being  actually  in 
command  of  the  troops,  had  the  game  in  his  hands.  The 
conflict  was  happily  terminated  by  the  arrival  at  Marin- 
duque  of  the  newly  appointed  governor-general  from 
Spain — Don  Francisco  de  la  Torre.  A  galley  was  sent 
there  by  Anda  to  bring  his  excellency  to  Luzon,  and 


THE    PHILIPPINES.  307 

he  arrived  at  Bacolor,  where  Anda  resigned  the  govern- 
ment to  him  on  the  17th  of  March,  1764. 

La  Torre  sent  a  message  to  Backhouse  and  Brereton 
— the  commanding  officers  at  Manila  and  Cavite — stating 
that  he  was  ready  to  take  over  the  city  in  due  form.  La 
Torre  thereupon  took  up  his  residence  in  Santa  Cruz, 
placed  a  Spanish  guard  with  sentinels  from  that  ward 
as  far  as  the  Great  Bridge  (Puente  de  Barcas,  now  called 
Puente  de  Espana),  where  the  British  advance  guard 
was,  and  friendly  communication  took  place.  Governor 
Drake  was  indignant  at  being  ignored  in  all  these  pro- 
ceedings, and  ordered  the  Spanish  governor  to  withdraw 
his  guards,  under  threat  of  appealing  to  force.  Back- 
house and  Brereton  resented  this  rudeness,  and  ordered 
the  troops  under  arms  to  arrest  Drake,  whose  hostile 
action,  due  to  jealousy,  they  declared  unwarrantable. 
Drake,  being  apprised  of  their  intentions,  escaped  from 
the  city  with  his  suite,  embarked  on  board  a  frigate,  and 
sailed  off. 

La  Torre  was  said  to  be  indisposed  on  the  day  ap- 
pointed for  receiving  the  city.  Some  assert  that  he 
feigned  his  indisposition,  as  he  did  not  wish  to  arouse 
Anda's  animosity,  and  desired  to  afford  him  an  oppor- 
tunity of  displaying  himself  as  a  delegate  at  least  of  the 
highest  local  authority  by  receiving  the  city  from  the 
British,  while  he  pampered  his  pride  by  allowing  him 
to  enter  triumphantly  into  it.  As  the  city  exchanged 
masters,  the  Spanish  flag  was  hoisted  once  more  on  the 
fort  of  Santiago  amid  the  hurrahs  of  the  populace  and 
artillery  salutes. 

Before   embarking,    Brereton    offered    to  do  justice  to 


308  HISTORY   OP    SPAIN. 

any  claims  which  might  be  legitimately  established 
against  the  British  authorities.  Hence  a  sloop  loaned 
to  Drake,  valued  at  four  thousand  dollars,  was  paid  for 
to  the  Jesuits,  and  the  three  thousand  dollars  paid  to  ran- 
som Villa  Corta's  life  was  returned.  Brereton  remarking 
that,  if  the  sentence  against  him  were  valid,  it  should 
have  been  executed  at  the  time,  but  it  could  not  be  com- 
muted by  money  payment.  At  the  instance  of  the  Brit- 
ish authorities,  a  free  pardon  was  granted  and  published 
to  the  Chinese,  few  of  whom,  however,  confided  in  it, 
and  many  left  with  the  retiring  army.  Brereton,  with 
his  forces,  embarked  for  India,  after  dispatching  a  packet- 
boat  to  restore  the  Sultan  of  Sulu  to  his  throne. 

During  this  convulsed  period,  great  atrocities  were 
committed.  Unfortunately  the  common  felons  were  re- 
leased by  the  English  from  their  prisons,  and  used  their 
liberty  to  perpetrate  murders  and  robbery  in  alliance  with 
those  always  naturally  bent  that  way.  So  great  did  this 
evil  become,  so  bold  were  the  marauders,  that  in  time 
they  formed  large  parties,  infested  highways,  attacked 
plantations,  and  the  poor  peasantry  had  to  flee,  leaving 
their  cattle  and  all  their  belongings  in  their  power.  Sev- 
eral avenged  themselves  of  the  friars  for  old  scores — others 
settled  accounts  with  those  Europeans  who  had  tyrannized 
them  of  old.  The  Chinese,  whether  so-called  Christians 
or  pagans,  declared  for  and  aided  the  British. 

The  proceedings  of  the  choleric  Simon  de  Anda  y  Sal- 
azar  were  approved  by  his  sovereign,  but  his  impetuous 
disposition  drove  from  him  his  best  counselors,  while 
those  who  were  bold  enough  to  uphold  their  opinions 
against  his  were  accused  of  connivance  with  the  British. 


THE  PHILIPPINES.  309 

Communications  with  Europe  were  scant  indeed  in  those 
days,  but  Anda  could  not  have  been  altogether  ignorant 
of  the  causes  of  the  war,  which  terminated  with  the 
Treaty  of  Paris. 

On  his  return  to  Spain,  after  the  appointment  of  La 
Torre  as  governor-general,  he  succeeded  in  retaining  the 
favor  of  the  king,  who  conferred  several  honors  on  him, 
making  him  Councilor  of  Castile,  etc.  In  the  meantime 
Jose  Raon,  who  replaced  La  Torre,  had  fallen  into  dis- 
grace, and  Anda  was  appointed  to  the  governor-general- 
ship of  the  islands. 

There  is  perhaps  no  imperiousness  so  intolerant  as  that 
of  an  official  who  vaunts  his  authority  by  the  reflected 
light  of  his  powerful  patron.  Anda  on  his  arrival  avenged 
himself  of  his  opposers  in  all  directions.  He  imprisoned 
his  predecessor,  several  judges,  military  officials  and  others ; 
some  he  sent  back  to  Spain,  others  he  banished  from  the 
capital.  Thus  he  brought  trouble  upon  himself.  From 
all  sides  hostile  resistance  increased.  He  quarreled  with 
the  clergy;  but  when  his  irascible  temper  had  exhausted 
itself  in  the  course  of  six  years,  he  retired  to  a  convent 
of  the  Austin  friars,  where  he  expired  in  1776,  much  to 
the  relief  of  his  numerous  adversaries. 

Consequent  on  the  troubled  state  of  the  colony,  a  seri- 
ous rebellion  arose  in  Ylogan  (Cagayan  Province),  among 
the  Timava  natives,  who  flogged  the  commandant,  and 
declared  they  would  no  longer  pay  tribute  to  the  Span- 
iards. The  revolt  spread  to  llocos  and  Pangasinan,  but 
the  ringleaders  were  caught,  and  tranquillity  was  restored 
by  the  gallows. 

A  rising  far   more   important   occurred   in  Tlocos    Sur, 


310  HISTORY    OF   SPAIN. 

The  alcalde  was  deposed,  and  escaped  after  he  had  been 
forced  to  give  up  his  staff  of  office.  The  leader  of  this 
revolt  was  a  cunning  and  cute  Manila  native,  named 
Diego  de  Silan,  who  persuaded  the  people  to  cease  paying 
tribute,  and  declare  against  the  Spaniards,  who,  he  pointed 
out,  were  unable  to  resist  the  English.  The  city  of  Vigan 
was  in  great  commotion.  The  vicar-general  parleyed  with 
the  natives;  and  then,  collecting  his  troops,  the  rebels 
were  dispersed,  while  some  were  taken  prisoners;  but  the 
bulk  of  the  rioters  rallied  and  attacked,  and  burned  down 
part  of  the  city.  The  loyal  natives  fled  before  the -flames. 
The  vicar-general's  house  was  taken,  and  the  arms  hi  it 
were  seized.  All  the  Austin  friars  within  a  large  sur- 
rounding neighborhood  had  to  ransom  themselves  by 
money  payments.  Silan  was  then  acknowledged  as  chief 
over  a  large  territory  north  and  south  of  Vigan.  He 
appointed  his  lieutenants,  and  issued  a  manifesto  declar- 
ing Jesus  of  Nazareth  to  be  captain-general  of  the  place, 
and  that  he  was  his  alcalde  for  the  promotion  of  the 
Catholic  religion  and  dominion  of  the  King  of  Spain.  His 
manifesto  was  wholly  that  of  a  religious  fanatic.  He 
obliged  the  natives  to  attend  mass,  to  confess,  and  to  see 
that  their  children  went  to  school.  In  the  midst  of  all 
this  pretended  piety,  he  robbed  cattle  and  exacted  ran- 
soms for  the  lives  of  all  those  who  could  pay  them;  he 
levied  a  tax  of  one  hundred  dollars  on  each  friar.  Under 
the  pretense  of  keeping  out  the  British,  he  placed  sen- 
tinels in  all  directions  to  prevent  news  reaching  the  ter- 
rible Simon  de  Anda.  But  Anda,  though  fully  informed 
by  an  Austin  friar  of  what  transpired,  had  not  sufficient 
troops  to  march  north.  He  sent  a  requisition  to  Silan  to 


THE  PHILIPPINES.  311 

present  himself  within  nine  days,  under  penalty  of  arrest 
as  a  traitor.  While  this  order  was  published,  vague  re- 
ports were  intentionally  spread  that  the  Spaniards  were 
coming  to  Ilocos  in  great  force.  Many  deserted  Silan, 
but  he  contrived  to  deceive  even  the  clergy  and  others 
by  his  feigned  piety.  Silan  sent  presents  to  Manila  for 
the  British,  acknowledging  the  King  of  England  to  be  his 
legitimate  sovereign.  The  British  governor  sent,  in  re- 
turn, a  vessel  bearing  dispatches  to  Silan,  appointing  him 
alcalde  mayor.  Elated  with  pride,  Silan  at  once  made 
this  public.  The  natives  were  undeceived,  for  they  had 
counted  on  him  to  deliver  them  from  the  British;  now, 
to  their  dismay,  they  saw  him  the  authorized  magistrate 
of  the  invader.  He  gave  orders  to  make  all  the  Austin 
friars  prisoners,  saying  that  the  British  would  send  other 
clergy  in  their  stead.  The  friars  surrendered  themselves 
without  resistance  and  joined  their  bishop  near  Vigan, 
awaiting  the  pleasure  of  Silan.  The  bishop  excommuni- 
cated Silan,  and  then  he  released  some  of  the  priests.  The 
Christian  natives  having  refused  to  slay  the  friars,  a  secret 
compact  was  being  made,  with  this  object,  with  the  moun- 
tain tribes,  when  a  half-caste  named  Vicos  obtained  the 
bishop's  benediction  to  go  and  kill  Silan;  and  the  rebel- 
lion, which  had  lasted  from  December  14,  1762,  to  May 
28,  1763,  ended. 

Not  until  a  score  of  little  battles  had  been  fought  were 
the  numerous  riots  in  the  provinces  quelled.  The  loyal 
troops  were  divided  into  sections,  and  marched  north  in 
several  directions,  until  peace  was  restored  by  March, 
1765.  Zuniga  says  that  the  Spaniards  lost  in  these  riots 

about    seventy    Europeans    and    one    hundred    and    forty 

14 


312  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

natives,    while   they   cost   the    rebels   quite   ten   thousand 
men. 

Space  will  not  permit  us  to  cite  all  the  revolutionary 
protests  which  ensued.  In  the  time  of  Legaspi  the  sub- 
mission of  the  Manila  and  Tondo  chiefs  was  of  but  local 
and  temporary  importance.  Since  then,  and  in  fact  since 
the  very  beginning  up  to  the  present  time,  the  natives 
have  only  yielded  to  a  force  which  they  have  repeatedly 
tried  to  overthrow. 


CHAPTER   XII 
THE  HISPANO-AMERICAN  WAR 

THE  "MAINE"  — THE  COURT  OF  INQUIRY  — THE  PRESIDENT'S 
MESSAGE  —  DEWEY  AT  MANILA  —  HOBSON  AND  THE 
"MERRIMAC"  —  CERVERA'S  RUN  TO  RUIN  — THE  CAPIT- 
ULATION OF  SANTIAGO  —  THE  MISSION  OF  PEACE 

WHEN  General  Weyler  assumed  command  in  Cuba  he 
issued,  October  21,  1896,  the  following  proclamation: 

"I  order  and  command: 

"First — All  the  inhabitants  of  the  country  now  outside 
of  the  line  of  fortifications  of  the  towns  shall  within  the 
period  of  eight  days  concentrate  themselves  in  the  towns  so 
occupied  by  the  troops.  Any  individual  who  after  the  ex- 
piration of  this  period  is  found  in  the  uninhabited  parts 
will  be  considered  a  rebel  and  tried  as  such." 

At  the  time  when  the  order  was  issued  there  was  liv- 
ing within  the  western  province  a  population  of  four  hun- 
dred thousand  men,  women  and  children.  The  result  of 
the  order  was  to  sweep  them  from  their  homes  and  fields 
and  confine  them  in  open-air  prisons.  No  food  whatever 
was  supplied  to  them.  As  a  result  more  than  half  of 
them  died. 

The  indignation  aroused  became  widespread.  Weyler 
was  recalled.  At  the  time,  especially  in  Havana  among 
the  officials  who  had  been  his  adherents  and  who  resented 
his  recall,  there  was  an  expressed  hatred  of  the  United 

(313) 


314  HISTORY   OF  SPAIN. 

States.  That  hatred  it  is  generally  understood  resulted, 
on  the  night  of  February  15,  1898,  in  the  blowing  up  of 
the  "Maine." 

The  dispatch  of  this  vessel  to  Cuban  waters  was 
a  friendly  act  arranged  by  our  government  and  that 
of  Spain  as  one  of  a  series  of  visits  to  be  paid  by  the 
ironclads  of  the  two  countries  to  each  other's  harbors. 
While  the  "Viscaya"  was  en  route  for  New  York  the 
"Maine"  went  to  Havana.  The  harbor  there  was  subse- 
quently shown  to  have  been  sown  with  explosives. 

The  findings  of  the  Court  of  Inquiry,  which  was  then 
held,  as  embodied  in  the  report  of  the  Foreign  Relations 
Committee,  set  forth  that  the  destruction  of  the  "Maine" 
was  either  compassed  by  the  official  act  of  the  Spanish 
authorities,  or  was  made  possible  by  negligence  on  their 
part  so  willful  and  gross  as  to  be  equivalent  to  criminal 
culpability. 

The  line  of  argument  is  as  follows:  It  is  established 
that  the  "Maine"  was  destroyed  by  the  explosion  of 
a  submarine  mine  in  position  under  her  in  a  Spanish 
harbor,  at  a  place  where  she  had  been  moored  to  a  buoy 
by  the  express  direction  and  guidance  of  the  Spanish 
authorities. 

The  report  of  the  Spanish  board  of  inquiry,  which 
reported,  after  the  most  inadequate  examination,  that  the 
explosion  was  due  to  the  fault  of  the  officers  of  the 
"Maine,"  and  took  place  within  the  vessel  itself,  was 
declared  to  be  manifestly  false,  and  calculated  to  induce 
public  opinion  to  prejudge  the  question.  Taking  this  to- 
gether with  the  fact  of  the  duplicity,  treachery,  and  cru- 
elty of  the  Spanish  character,  the  Senate  concluded  that 


THE   HJSPANO-AMEE1CAN   WAR.  315 

the  Spanish  authorities  must  be  held  responsible  for  the 
crime,  either  as  its  direct  authors  or  as  contributors 
thereto  by  willful  and  gross  negligence. 

Spain  offered  to  refer  the  question  as  to  the  cause  of 
the  loss  of  the  "Maine"  and  their  responsibility  for  the 
catastrophe  to  arbitration.  The  President  made  no  reply. 

On  April  11,  anterior  circumstances  already  sufficiently 
recited,  joined  to  the  findings  of  the  American  Commis- 
sioners, resulted  in  the  President  sending  a  message  to 
Congress,  in  which  he  said: 

"The  long  trial  has  proved  that  the  object  for  which 
Spain  has  waged  the  war  cannot  be  attained.  The  fire 
of  insurrection  may  flame  or  may  smolder  with  varying 
seasons,  but  it  has  not  been,  and  it  is  plain  that  it  can- 
not be,  extinguished  by  present  methods.  The  only  hope 
of  relief  and  repose  from  a  condition  which  can  no  longer 
be  endured  is  the  enforced  pacification  of  Cuba. 

"In  the  name  of  humanity,  in  the  name  of  civilization, 
in  behalf  of  endangered  American  interests  which  give  us 
the  right  and  the  duty  to  speak  and  to  act,  the  war  in 
Cuba  must  stop. 

"In  view  of  these  facts  and  of  these  considerations,  I 
ask  the  Congress  to  authorize  and  empower  the  Presi- 
dent to  take  measures  to  secure  a  full  and  final  termi- 
nation of  hostilities  between  the  government  of  Spain  and 
the  people  of  Cuba,  and  to  secure  in  the  island  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  stable  government  capable  of  maintaining 
order  and  observing  its  international  obligations,  insuring 
peace  and  tranquillity,  and  the  security  of  its  citizens 
as  well  as  our  own,  and  to  use  the  military  and 
naval  forces  of  the  United  States  as  may  be  necessary 
for  these  purposes. 

"WlLLJAM  McKlNLEY." 


316  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

On  April  19  Congress  passed  the  following: 

Joint  resolution  for  the  recognition  of  the  independ- 
ence of  the  people  of  Cuba,  demanding  that  the 
government  of  Spain  relinquish  its  authority  and 
government  in  the  island  of  Cuba,  and  to  with- 
draw its  land  and  naval  forces  from  Cuba  and 
Cuban  waters,  and  directing  the  President  of  the 
United  States  to  use  the  land  and  naval  forces  of 
the  United  States  to  carry  these  resolutions  into 
effect. 

"Whereas,  The  abhorrent  conditions  which  have  ex- 
isted for  more  than  three  years  in  the  island  of  Cuba,  so 
near  our  own  borders,  have  shocked  the  moral  sense  of 
the  people  of  the  United  States,  have  been  a  disgrace 
to  Christian  civilization,  culminating,  as  they  have,  in 
the  destruction  of  a  United  States  battleship,  with  two 
hundred  and  sixty  of  its  officers  and  crew,  while  on  a 
friendly  visit  in  the  harbor  of  Havana,  and  cannot  longer 
be  endured,  as  has  been  set  forth  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States  in  his  message  to  Congress  of  April  11,  1898, 
upon  which  the  action  of  Congress  was  invited;  therefore 
be  it  resolved, 

"First — That  the  people  of  the  island  of  Cuba  are,  and 
of  right  ought  to  be,  free  and  independent. 

"Second — That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  United  States  to 
demand,  and  the  government  of  the  United  States  does 
hereby  demand,  that  the  government  of  Spain  at  once 
relinquish  its  authority  and  government  in  the  island  of 
Cuba,  and  withdraw  its  land  and  naval  forces  from  Cuba 
and  Cuban  waters. 

"Third— That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be, 
and  he  hereby  is,  directed  and  empowered  to  use  the  en- 
tire land  and  naval  forces  of  the  United  States,  and  to 
call  into  the  actual  service  of  the  United  States  the  militia 
of  the  several  States  to  such  an  extent  as  may  be  neces- 
sary to  carry  these  resolutions  into  effect. 


THE   HISPANO-AMERICAN    WAR.  317 

"Fourth — That  the  United  States  hereby  disclaims  any 
disposition  or  intention  to  exercise  sovereignty,  jurisdic- 
tion or  control  over  said  island,  except  for  the  pacifica- 
tion thereof,  and  asserts  its  determination  when  that  is 
accomplished  to  leave  the  government  and  control  of  the 
island  to  its  people." 

The  ultimatum  embodied  in  the  foregoing  being  re- 
jected by  Spain,  diplomatic  relations  were  severed  and 
hostilities  ensued. 

On  May  1,  at  daybreak,  the  Asiatic  squadron,  com- 
manded by  Commodore  Dewey,  arrived  at  Manila  from 
Hong  Kong.  At  Cavite,  within  the  harbor,  protected  by 
four  batteries,  lay  the  Spanish  fleet.  It  was  commanded 
by  Admiral  Patricio  Montojo.  The  squadron  proceeded 
up  the  bay  unmolested  and  made  for  the  naval  station. 
Two  mines  were  exploded,  but  ineffectively.  At  five 
o'clock  and  ten  minutes  the  Spaniards  opened  fire.  Com- 
modore Dewey  set  the  signals,  and  his  entire  squadron 
advanced  to  short  range.  The  squadron  consisted  of  the 
following  cruisers  and  gunboats:  "Olympia,"  "Balti- 
more," "Boston,"  "Raleigh,"  "Concord,"  "Petrel,"  and 
"McCulloch." 

At  5.30  the  "OlympiaV  8-inch  guns  opened,  and  the 
squadron  swung  in  front  of  the  Spanish  ships  and  forts 
in  single  file,  firing  their  port  guns.  Then,  wheeling,  they 
passed  back,  firing  their  starboard  guns.  This  maneuver 
was  repeated  five  times,  the  entire  American  fleet  passing 
all  the  Spanish  ships  and  batteries  at  each  maneuver,  and 
each  time  drawing  in  closer  and  closer  and  delivering  fire 
at  more  deadly  range.  During  two  hours  and  a  half  there 
was  tremendous  resistance  by  the  Spaniards.  They  had 


318  HISTORY   OF  SPAIN. 

eleven  ships  and  five  land  batteries  in  full  play,  against 
six  American  warships.  But  the  American  marksman- 
ship was  faultless.  Every  shot  seemed  to  count  against 
ship  or  shore  battery,  while  most  of  the  Spanish  powder 
was  burned  in  vain.  At  7.45  A.M.  the  American  fleet 
withdrew  to  ascertain  damages  and  permit  the  smoke  to 
clear.  It  was  seen  then  that  several  Spanish  ships  were 
crippled  or  burning,  and  it  was  found  that  the  Ameri- 
can vessels  had  suffered  hardly  at  all.  Admiral  Dewey 
called  his  captains  into  consultation  and  arrangements  were 
made  for  another  attack.  At  10.40  the  attack  was  renewed, 
the  "Baltimore"  leading.  She  advanced  right  upon  the 
enemy,  shelling  them  constantly,  and  the  other  Ameri- 
cans followed,  working  their  guns  as  rapidly  as  they  could 
load  and  fire.  The  effect  of  this  assault  was  terrific.  Ship 
after  ship  of  the  Spaniards  sunk  or  was  run  ashore  to 
keep  them  from  sinking  or  falling  into  American  hands. 
At  12.45  P.M.  the  Spaniards  struck  their  colors  in  token 
of  surrender.  Admiral  Patrick)  Montojo  fled  to  Manila, 
and  most  of  the  survivors  fled  with  him.  This  ended  the 
work  of  May  1. 

On  May  2,  Commodore  Dewey  landed  a  force  of  ma- 
rines at  Cavite.  They  completed  the  destruction  of  the 
Spanish  fleet  and  batteries  and  established  a  guard  for 
the  protection  of  the  Spanish  hospitals.  The  resistance 
of  the  forts  was  weak.  The  "Olympia"  turned  a  few 
guns  on  the  Cavite  arsenal,  and  its  magazine  at  once  ex- 
ploded, killing  some  and  wounding  many.  This  prac- 
tically ended  the  fire  from  the  batteries,,  the  Spanish 
artillerists  fearing  to  face  the  American  gunners.  "Re- 
member the  'Maine'!"  was  the  word  continually  passed 


THE    HISPANO- AMERICAN    WAR.  319 

between  the  ships,  and  every  American  officer,  every 
"Jackie,"  was  eager  to  do  his  utmost. 

After  Manila  and  the  defeat  of  Admiral  Montojo,  the 
successive  and  concluding  events  of  the  Hispano- Ameri- 
can war  include  Admiral  Sampson's  bombardment  of  San 
Juan;  Hobson's  heroic  experiment  with  the  "Merrimac"; 
General  Shafter's  campaign;  the  destruction  of  Cervera's 
squadron;  the  capitulation  of  Santiago;  General  Miles's 
tour  in  Porto  Rico,  and  the  overtures  for  peace.  These 
events  may  be  conveniently  summarized  as  follows: 

The  bombardment  of  San  Juan  was  the  result  of  a 
reconnaissance.  The  Spanish  fleet,  under  command  of 
Admiral  Cervera,  which  it  was  the  purpose  of  the  Ameri- 
cans to  capture  or  destroy,  subsequently  sought  and 
found  shelter  within  the  harbor  of  Santiago,  the  entrance 
to  which  Admiral  Sampson  then  proceeded  to  invest. 
There,  while  waiting  to  engage  the  enemy,  it  was  thought 
wise  to  attempt  to  block  the  harbor  and  so  prevent  a  pos- 
sible escape.  The  plan  originated  with  Lieutenant  Hob- 
son,  and  its  execution  was  left  to  him.  On  the  night  of 
June  3,  with  a  picked  crew  of  seven  volunteers,  he  steamed 
up  in  the  collier  "Merrimac"  to  the  harbor's  entrance  and 
sank  her.  From  the  fleet  the  progress  of  the  "Merrimac" 
was  eagerly  followed. 

At  3.15  the  first  Spanish  shot  was  fired,  coming  from 
one  of  the  guns  on  the  hill  to  the  west  of  the  entrance. 
The  shot  was  seen  to  splash  seaward  from  the  "Merri- 
mac," having  passed  over  her.  The  firing  became  gen- 
eral very  scon  afterward,  being  especially  fierce  and  rapid 
from  the  batteries  inside  on  the  left  of  the  harbor,  prob- 
ably from  batteries  on  Smith  Cay.  The  flashes  and  re- 


320  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

ports  were  apparently  those  of  rapid- fire  guns,  ranging 
from  small  automatic  guns  to  four-inch  or  larger.  For 
fifteen  minutes  a  perfect  fusillade  was  kept  up.  Then  the 
fire  slackened  and  by  3.30  had  almost  ceased.  There 
was  a  little  desultory  firing  until  about  3.45,  when  all 
became  quiet.  Daylight  came  at  about  five  o'clock. 

At  about  5.15  A.M.,  a  launch,  which  under  Cadet 
Powell  had  followed  the  "Merrimac,"  in  order  if  possible 
to  rescue  Hobson  and  his  men,  was  seen  steaming  from 
west  to  east,  near  or  across  the  mouth  of  the  harbor.  She 
steamed  back  from  east  to  west  and  began  skirting  the 
coast  to  the  west  of  the  entrance.  The  battery  on  the  hill 
to  the  left  opened  fire  on  her,  but  did  not  make  good  prac- 
tice. The  launch  continued  her  course  as  far  westward 
as  a  small  cove  and  then  headed  for  the  "Texas,"  steam- 
ing at  full  speed.  Several  shots  were  fired  at  her  from 
the  battery  on  the  left  as  she  steamed  out. 

It  was  broad  daylight  by  this  time.  Cadet  Powell 
came  alongside  the  "Texas"  and  reported  that  "No  one 
had  come  out  of  the  entrance  of  the  harbor."  His  words 
sounded  like  the  death  knell  of  all  who  had  gone  in  on 
the  "Merrimac."  It  seemed  incredible,  almost  impossible, 
any  of  them  could  have  lived  through  the  awful  fire  that 
was  directed  at  the  ship.  Cadet  Powell  said  that  he  had 
followed  behind  the  ship  at  a  distance  of  four  or  five  hun- 
dred yards.  Hobson  missed  the  entrance  of  the  harbor  at 
first,  having  gone  too  far  to  the  westward ;  he  almost  ran 
aground.  The  launch  picked  up  the  entrance  and  directed 
the  "Merrimac"  in.  From  the  launch  the  collier  was  seen 
until  she  rounded  the  bend  of  the  channel  and  until  the 
helm  had  been  put  to  port  to  swing  her  into  position  across 


THE   HISPANO-AMERICAN    WAR.  321 

the  channel.  There  was  probably  no  one  in  the  fleet  who 
did  not  think  that  all  seven  of  the  men  had  perished.  In 
the  afternoon,  much  to  the  surprise  of  every  one,  a  tug 
flying  a  flag  of  truce  was  seen  coming  out  of  the  entrance. 
The  "Vixen,"  flying  a  tablecloth  at  the  fore,  went  to  meet 
the  tug.  A  Spanish  officer  went  aboard  the  "Vixen"  from 
the  tug  and  was  taken  aboard  the  flagship.  Not  long 
afterward  a  signal  was  made  that  Murphy  of  the  "Iowa" 
was  saved  and  was  a  prisoner  of  war.  About  four  o'clock 
another  signal  was  made  from  the  flagship:  "Collier's 
crew  prisoners  of  war;  two  slightly  wounded.  All  well." 
It  can  be  easily  imagined  what  relief  this  signal  brought 
to  all  hands,  who  had  been  mourning  the  death  of  all 
these  men.  The  Spanish  officer  said  also  that  the  prisoners 
were  confined  in  Morro  Castle.  He  said  further  that  Ad- 
miral Cervera  considered  the  attempt  to  run  in  and  sink 
the  "Merrimac"  across  the  channel  an  act  of  such  great 
bravery  and  desperate  daring  that  he  (the  Admiral)  thought 
it  very  proper  that  our  naval  officers  should  be  notified  of 
the  safety  of  these  men.  Whatever  the  motive  for  send- 
ing out  the  tug  with  the  flag  of  truce,  the  act  was  a  most 
graceful  one  and  one  of  most  chivalrous  courtesy.  The 
Spanish  officer  is  reported  to  have  said:  "You  have  made 
it  more  difficult,  but  we  can  still  get  out." 

The  daring  evinced  by  Hobson  was  instantly  recog- 
nized, but  the  importance  of  his  achievement  was  not  ap- 
preciated until  July  3,  when  Cervera's  desperate  attempt 
to  escape,  would,  in  all  likelihood,  have  been  partly  suc- 
cessful but  for  the  fact  that  his  vessels  were  obliged  to 
leave  the  harbor  in  single  file. 

Let  us,  however,  recapitulate  in  their  order  the  events 


322  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

which  followed  the  sinking  of  the  "Merrimac,"  news 
whereof  was  received  on  June  4.  On  June  5,  a  bom- 
bardment of  the  Morro  Castle,  commanding  the  mouth 
of  Santiago  Harbor,  took  place,  but  no  serious  impression 
seems  to  have  been  made  upon  the  fortress  at  that  time, 
although  some  neighboring  earthworks  were  destroyed. 
Two  days  later,  there  was  a  more  effective  bombardment 
of  the  harbor  fortifications  by  Admiral  Sampson,  but  the 
Morro  Castle  still  held  out  and  protected  the  entrance  to 
the  port  by  its  ability  to  deliver  a  plunging  fire.  On 
June  9,  it  was  known  that  twelve  thousand  men,  or 
about  half  of  our  regular  army,  together  with  a  number 
of  volunteer  regiments,  under  General  Shafter,  had  set 
sail  from  Tampa,  and,  on  the  following  day,  the  Span- 
iards began  preparations  for  &  vigorous  defense  of  San- 
tiago against  a  land  force  by  means  of  carefully  planned 
intrenchments.  On  June  11,  a  body  of  United  States 
marines  landed  at  Guantanamo  Bay,  and,  on  the  three 
ensuing  days,  sustained  successfully  determined  assaults 
by  the  Spaniards.  On  June  15,  the  "Vesuvius,"  carry- 
ing a  pneumatic  gun,  which  discharges  a  tube  loaded  with 
dynamite,  arrived  off  Santiago,  and  fully  justified  the  ex- 
pectations of  her  inventor  by  the  efficient  part  which  she 
took  in  the  bombardment.  Since  June  7,  the  Spaniards 
had  attempted  to  repair  the  Santiago  forts,  and  had,  to 
some  extent,  succeeded  in  doing  so;  consequently,  on  June 
16,  Admiral  Sampson  ordered  the  ships  to  open  fire  on 
them  again,  and,  in  this  assault,  is  said  to  have  dis- 
charged five  hundred  thousand  pounds  of  metal.  It  was 
not  until  June  22,  or  thirteen  days  after  his  departure 
from  Tampa,  that  General  Shafter  landed  his  troops  at 


THE  HISPANO-AMERICAN   WAR.  323 

Baiquiri,  a  point  on  the  coast  some  miles  southwest  of 
Santiago.  There  was  furious  fighting  during  the  three 
following  days,  and  there  was  a  grievous  loss  of  life  on 
the  American  side,  infantry  and  dismounted  cavalry  hav- 
ing been  ordered  or  allowed  to  attack  intrenchments  with- 
out artillery  support.  The  necessity  of  heavy  siege  guns 
was  at  once  clear  to  professional  soldiers,  but  these  could 
not  be  moved  from  the  transports  to  the  shore,  because 
only  one  lighter  had  been  brought  from  Tampa,  and  even 
that  one  had  been  lost.  This  loss  could  have  been  quickly 
repaired,  had  not  General  Shatter  refused  to  take  with 
him  from  Tampa  the  signal  train  that  had  been  made 
ready  for  him,  on  the  ground  that  he  "only  wanted  men 
who  could  carry  muskets."  The  result  of  this  indifference 
to  a  branch  of  the  service  which  constitutes  the  eyes, 
ears  and  voice  of  a  modern  army,  was  that  it  required 
two  days  to  transmit  a  request  from  Shafter 's  head- 
quarters to  the  point  where  the  cable  could  be  used. 
On  June  29,  not  having,  as  yet,  any  heavy  siege  guns 
in  position,  and  not  having  so  surrounded  the  city  as 
to  prevent  the  re -enforcement  or  escape  of  its  garrison, 
General  Shafter  telegraphed  to  Washington:  "I  can  take 
Santiago  in  forty-eight  hours."  On  July  1  and  2,  Gen- 
eral Shafter  made  resolute  assaults  upon  the  Spanish  in- 
trenchments and  carried  many  of  them,  advancing  his 
own  lines  very  much  nearer  the  city.  The  advantage 
thus  gained,  however,  had  cost  him  a  considerable  frac- 
tion of  his  force.  The  whole  number  of  Americans 
killed,  wounded  and  missing  during  the  land  operations 
reached  ten  per  cent  of  the  number  with  which  Gen- 
eral Shafter  landed  on  June  22.  Of  these  land  engage- 


324  HISTORY    OF  SPAIN. 

ments    the    most  notable    were    those    of    Aguadores,    El 
Caney  and   San  Juan. 

The  battle  of  San  Juan  is  described  as  follows: 
The  dawn  of  July  I  found  the  troops  of  Wheeler's 
division  bivouacked  on  the  eminence  of  El  Pozo.  Kent's 
division  bivouacked  near  the  road  back  of  El  Pozo. 
Grimes's  battery  went  into  position  about  two  hundred 
and  fifty  yards  west  of  the  ruined  buildings  of  El  Pozo 
soon  after  sunrise  and  prepared  gun  pits.  Grimes's  bat- 
tery opened  fire  against  San  Juan  a  little  before  8  A.M. 
The  troops  of  the  cavalry  division  were  scattered  about  on 
El  Pozo  Hill  in  the  rear  and  around  the  battery,  with- 
out order  and  with  no  view  to  their  protection  from  the 
Spanish  fire.  This  condition  rectified  itself  when  the  Span- 
iards, after  five  or  six  shots  by  the  American  battery, 
replied  with  shrapnel  fire  at  correct  range  and  with  accu- 
rately adjusted  fuses,  killing  two  men  at  the  first  shot. 
After  some  firing  soon  after  9  A.M.  Wheeler's  division 
was  put  in  march  toward  Santiago.  Crossing  Agua- 
dores stream,  it  turned  to  the  right,  under  General  Sum- 
ner,  who  was  in  command  at  that  time  owing  to  General 
Wheeler's  illness.  Scattering  shots  were  fired  by  the  Span- 
iards before  the  arrival  of  the  first  troops  at  the  crossing, 
but  their  volley  firing  did  not  commence  until  the  dis- 
mounted cavalry  went  into  position,  crossing  open  ground. 
Kent's  division  followed  Wheeler's,  moving  across  the 
stream,  and  advanced  along  the  road  in  close  order  under 
a  severe  enfilading  fire.  After  advancing  some  distance, 
it  turned  off  to  the  left.  Lieutenant  Ord  (killed  in  battle) 
made  a  reconnaissance  from  a  large  tree  on  the  banks  of 
the  stream. 


THE   HISPANO- AMERICAN    WAR.  325 

At  about  one  o'clock,  after  a  delay  of  nearly  two  hours 
waiting  for  the  troops  to  reach  their  positions,  the  whole 
force  advanced,  charged,  and  carried  the  first  line  of 
intrenchments.  They  were  afterward  formed  on  the  crest 
and  there  threw  up  intrenchments  facing  the  second  line 
at  a  distance  of  from  five  hundred  to  one  thousand 
yards. 

We  pass  to  the  memorable  naval  combat  of  July  3, 
which  annihilated  Cervera's  squadron,  and  dealt  the  death- 
blow to  Spain's  hope  of  making  head  against  America  on 
the  sea.  There  is,  of  course,  no  foundation  for  the  report 
that  Admiral  Cervera  resolved  to  fly,  because  he  knew  that 
Santiago  would  be  immediately  taken.  The  truth  is  that, 
on  July  2,  he  received  peremptory  orders  from  Madrid  to 
leave  Santiago  at  once,  no  matter  what  might  be  the  con- 
sequences ;  to  engage  the  American  fleet,  and  to  make  his 
way,  if  possible,  to  Havana,  where  he  would  raise  the 
blockade.  These  orders  he  did  his  best  to  execute  on  the 
morning  of  July  3,  having  been  informed  by  signal  that 
Admiral  Sampson's  flagship,  the  "New  York,"  and  a 
large  part  of  the  American  fleet,  were  lying  at  some  dis- 
tance toward  the  east,  and  that  only  the  "Brooklyn," 
"Texas"  and  "Iowa"  would  have  to  be  encountered  if 
the  escaping  ships  moved  westward.  There  was  a  mis- 
take in  this  computation,  for  the  "Oregon"  also  took 
an  important  part  in  the  action,  and  so  did  the  little 
"Gloucester,"  a  converted  yacht,  which  did  not  hesitate, 
single-handed,  to  engage  both  of  the  torpedo-boat  destroy- 
ers. With  such  information  as  he  could  procure,  how- 
ever, Admiral  Cervera  believed  that  his  ships  could  out- 
sail all  of  those  blockading  the  mouth  of  the  harbor,  ex- 


326  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

cept  the  "Brooklyn,"  and  that,  if  the  "Brooklyn"  could 
be  disabled,  some,  at  least,  of  his  vessels  could  escape. 
Accordingly,  orders  were  issued  by  the  Spanish  admiral 
to  proceed  at  full  speed  to  the  westward  after  clearing 
the  entrance,  and  to  concentrate  fire  upon  the  "Brook- 
lyn." In  the  attempt  to  carry  out  this  programme,  the 
four  warships,  "Maria  Teresa,"  "Almirante  Oquendo," 
"Vizcaya"  and  "Cristobal  Colon,"  followed  by  the  tor- 
pedo-boat destroyers  "Pluton"  and  "Furor,"  in  the  order 
named  and  in  single  file,  pushed  with  all  steam  up  through 
the  narrow  passage  which  had  been  left  by  the  sunken 
"Merrimac."  The  concerted  endeavor  to  disable  the 
"Brooklyn"  failed,  and  it  turned  out  that  both  the  "Ore- 
gon" and  "Texas"  were  faster  than  the  "Cristobal  Co- 
lon," which  was  much  the  swiftest  of  the  Spanish  squad- 
ron. The  "Maria  Teresa,"  the  "Almirante  Oquendo"  and 
the  "Vizcaya"  were  successively  riddled  and  put  hors  de 
combat  by  the  rapid  and  accurate  firing  of  the  American 
ships,  and  were  beached  by  their  officers  to  avoid,  not  so 
much  surrender,  as  the  danger  of  explosion.  The  "Cris- 
tobal Colon"  succeeded  in  reaching  a  point  about  fifty 
miles  from  Santiago,  when  it  was  headed  off  not  only  by 
the  protected  cruiser  "Brooklyn,"  but  also  by  the  iron- 
clads "Oregon"  and  "Texas."  From  that  moment,  es- 
cape was  seen  to  be  impossible,  so  the  commander  beached 
his  ship  and  hauled  down  his  flag.  This  closing  incident 
of  the  battle  took  place  at  1.20  P.M.,  almost  exactly  four 
hours  after  the  leading  vessel  of  the  escaping  column,  the 
"Maria  Teresa,"  had  passed  the  Morro.  Meanwhile,  the 
little  "Gloucester,"  under  Commander  Richard  Wain- 
vvright,  had  stopped  both  of  the  torpedo-boat  destroyers, 


THE   HISPANO- AMERICAN    WAR.  327 

received  their  fire,  and  detained  them  until  an  ironclad 
came  up. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  Spanish  squadron  did 
not  have  to  contend  with  the  whole  of  the  American 
fleet,  but  that,  on  the  contrary,  the  forces  engaged  were, 
on  paper,  much  more  nearly  equal  than  is  generally  un- 
derstood. The  Americans  had  the  first-class  battleships 
"Oregon"  and  "Iowa,"  the  second-class  battleship  "Tex- 
as," the  protected  cruiser  "Brooklyn"  and  the  converted 
yacht  "Gloucester."  The  Spaniards,  on  their  part,  had 
one  armored  cruiser,  three  protected  cruisers,  and  two 
torpedo-boat  destroyers.  It  is  certainly  a  remarkable  fact, 
and  one  almost  without  a  parallel  in  naval  annals,  if  we 
except  Dewey's  achievement  at  Manila,  that  not  a  single 
one  of  the  Spanish  vessels  should  have  managed  to  es- 
cape. The  honor  of  the  almost  unique  victory  at  San- 
tiago belongs,  beyond  a  doubt,  to  Commodore  Schley, 
for,  at  the  beginning  of  the  action,  Admiral  Sampson,  in 
his  flaghip,  the  "New  York,"  was  out  of  sight,  and  he 
remained  out  of  signal  distance  until  almost  the  end. 

Almost  immediately  after  these  incidents  an  expedition 
under  command  of  General  Miles  proceeded  to  Porto 
Rico,  where,  on  the  southwest  coast,  at  the  little  village 
of  Guanica,  a  landing  was  effected  on  July  25. 

Twenty -four  hours  later  the  Spanish  government, 
through  M.  Jules  Cambon,  the  French  embassador  at 
Washington,  made  a  formal  proposal  for  ending  the  war 
and  arranging  terms  of  peace. 


CHAPTER   XIII 
SPANISH  ART,   LITERATURE,   AND  SPORT 

I 

PAINTING  AND  ARCHITECTURE 

EARLY  Spanish  paintings  are  feeble  imitations  of  Ital- 
ian and  Flemish  art.  They  lack  the  simplicity  of  the  one 
and  the  realism  of  the  other.  In  color  they  are  somber 
and  monotonous  —  two  qualities  which  characterize  the 
whole  Spanish  school.  The  value  of  this  school  has  been 
curiously  overrated.  Comparatively  speaking  of  brief  ex- 
istence, it  has  produced  but  two  great  painters — Velasquez 
and  Murillo.  Their  contemporaries,  Zurbaran,  del  Mazo, 
Ribera,  Alonso  Cana,  Herrera  and  Roelas,  were  men  of 
ability,  no  doubt,  but  they  were  not  masters. 

Excellent  examples  of  Velasquez  and  of  Murillo  are  to 
be  found  to-day  in  the  Museum  of  the  Prado  at  Madrid, 
and  in  the  Art  Gallery  of  Seville.  The  cathedrals  and 
churches  generally  contain  works  of  the  principal  paint- 
ers, both  of  the  early  and  later  times;  but  placed,  as  a 
rule,  in  "Retablos"  or  altar  pieces,  they  are  poorly  ex- 
posed and  difficult  to  view. 

DON  DIEGO  VELASQUEZ  DE  SILVA,  or  simpry  VELAS- 
QUEZ, the  greatest  painter  that  Spain  has  produced,  was 
born  at  Seville,  in  1599,  of  parents  of  Portuguese  origin,  and 
died  at  Madrid  in  1660.  He  married  in  his  youth  the  daugh- 
ter of  FRANCISCO  PACHECO,  a  painter  of  inferior  merit,  but 
a  learned  writer  on  art,  from  whose  advice  and  instruction 
he  derived  much  advantage.  Velasquez  showed  from  his 
childhood  a  genius  for  painting.  He  began  by  copying  care- 
fully from  nature,  still  life,  and  living  models,  forming  him- 
self upon  the  study  of  pictures  by  Ribera  and  by  Italian 


SPANISH  ART,  LITERATURE,  AND   SPORT.  329 

masters  of  the  Naturalistic  school,  which  had  been  brought 
from  Italy  to  Spain.  The  best  examples  of  his  first  manner 
are  "The  Adoration  of  the  Kings"  and  his  famous  "Bor- 
rachos,"  or  drunkards,  in  the  Madrid  Gallery.  In  them  the 
influence  of  Caravaggio  and  Ribera  is  very  evident.  In  the 
twenty-third  year  of  his  age  he  came  to  Madrid,  and,  attract- 
ing the  notice  of  influential  persons,  was  soon  taken  into  the 
service  of  Philip  IV. — an  enthusiastic  lover  of  art,  and  him- 
self a  painter.  He  remained  there  for  the  rest  of  his  life, 
and  his  pictures  were  almost  exclusively  painted  for  his  royal 
patron  and  for  the  grandees  of  the  Spanish  court.  A  friend- 
ship with  Rubens,  who  was  in  Madrid  as  embassador  from 
the  King  of  England,  in  1628,  and  two  visits  to  Italy,  in  1629 
and  1648,  led  him  to  modify  his  early  manner.  From  the 
study  at  Venice  of  the  masterpieces  of  Titian  and  Tintoret, 
he  acquired  a  greater  harmony  and  transparency  of  color, 
and  a  freer  and  firmer  touch,  without  departing  from  that 
truthful  representation  of  nature  which  he  always  sought  to 
attain.  On  his  second  visit  to  Italy  he  chiefly  studied  in 
Rome.  He  again  changed  his  style:  his  coloring  became 
more  what  the  Italians  term  "sfumato,"  or  hazy;  and  he 
returned,  to  some  extent,  to  his  early  general  soberness  of 
tone,  rarely  introducing  bright  colors  into  his  last  pictures. 
Velasquez's  second  and  third  manners,  as  well  as  his  first, 
are  fully  represented  in  the  Madrid  Gallery,  which  contains 
no  less  than  sixty  of  his  pictures,  or  almost  the  whole  of  his 
genuine  works.  The  "Borrachos"  have  already  been  men- 
tioned as  an  example  of  his  first  manner.  The  fine  portrait 
of  the  Infante  Don  Carlos,  second  son  of  Philip  III.,  is  an- 
other. In  his  second  manner  are  the  "Surrender  of  Breda," 
perhaps  the  finest  representation  and  treatment  of  a  contem- 
porary historical  event  in  the  world ;  the  magnificent  portrait 
of  the  Count  of  Benavente,  and  the  four  Dwarfs.  In  his 
third,  the  "Meninas,"  and  the  "  Hilanderas. "  By  studying 
these  pictures  the  student  will  soon  be  able  to  distinguish 
between  the  three  manners  of  the  painter,  and  to  decide  for 
himself  as  to  the  genuineness  of  the  many  pictures  which 
pass  for  Velasquez's  in  the  public  and  private  galleries  of 
Europe. 

It  was  principally  as  a  portrait-painter  that  Velasquez 
excelled.  Although  he  wanted  the  imagination  of  Titian, 
and  gave  less  dignity  and  refinement  than  that  great  master 
to  his  portraits,  yet  in  a  marvelous  power  of  rendering  nature, 
and  in  truthfulness  of  expression,  he  was  not  his  inferior.  In 


330  HISTORY  OF  SPJIN. 

the  imaginative  faculties  he  was  singularly  deficient,  as  his 
"Forge  of  Vulcan,"  the  "Coronation  of  the  Virgin,"  and 
other  works  of  that  class  in  the  Madrid  Gallery,  are  sufficient 
to  prove.  However,  the  "Crucifixion,"  in  the  same  collec- 
tion, is  a  grand  and  solemn  conception,  which  has  excited 
the  enthusiastic  admiration  of  some  critics.  Velasquez  was 
essentially  a  "naturalistic"  painter.  In  the  representation 
of  animals,  especially  dogs,  and  of  details  such  as  armor, 
drapery,  and  objects  of  still-life,  he  is  almost  without  a  rival. 
His  freedom  of  touch  and  power  of  producing  truthful  effects 
by  the  simplest  means  are  truly  wonderful.  His  aerial  per- 
spective, his  light  and  shade,  his  gradations  of  tone  and 
color,  are  all  equally  excellent,  and  have  excited  the  admira- 
tion of  Wilkie,  and  of  the  best  judges  of  art. 

The  high  offices  which  Velasquez  held  at  court  gave  him 
but  little  time  to  paint.  The  number  of  his  pictures  is,  there- 
fore, comparatively  small.  They  were  principally  executed 
for  the  royal  palaces ;  those  which  have  escaped  the  fires  that 
destroyed  so  many  great  works  have  been  removed  to  the 
Madrid  Museum.  The  portraits  which  are  attributed  to  him 
in  many  public  and  private  collections  out  of  Spain  are,  for 
the  most  part,  by  his  pupils,  or  imitators  and  copyists.  One 
of  the  most  skillful  of  the  latter  was  a  certain  Lucas,  who, 
not  many  years  ago,  succeeded  in  deceiving  many  collectors. 

Among  his  best  scholars  were:  JUAN  BAUTISTA  DEL  MAZO 
(d.  1667),  his  son-in-law.  How  nearly  he  approached  his 
master  may  be  seen  by  his  admirable  portrait  of  D.  Tiburcio 
de  Redin,  and  the  view  of  Saragossa,  in  which  the  figures 
have  even  been  attributed  to  Velasquez,  in  the  Madrid  Gal- 
lery. PAREJA,  his  half-caste  slave,  and  afterward  freedman 
(d.  1670),  who  imitated  his  master  in  his  portraits,  but  not 
in  his  religious  and  other  subjects,  in  which  he  followed  the 
Dutch  and  Italian  painters  of  the  time;  as  in  his  "Calling  of 
St.  Mark, ' '  in  the  same  gallery.  CARRENO,  a  member  of  a 
noble  family  (b.  1614;  d.  1685),  who  succeeded  Velasquez  as 
court  painter,  and  who  is  chiefly  known  by  his  portraits  of 
the  idiot  king  (Charles  II.),  his  mother,  Mariana  of  Austria, 
Don  John  of  Austria  (not  the  hero  of  Lepanto),  and  other 
royal  and  courtly  persons  of  the  period.  Spanish  writers  on 
art  rank  him  with  Vandyke,  to  whom,  however,  he  was 
greatly  inferior.  His  coloring  is  generally  insipid,  and  want- 
ing in  vigor. 

BARTOLOME  ESTEBAN  MURILLO  was  born  at  Seville  in 
1616.  He  studied  under  Juan  del  Castillo,  a  very  indifferent 


SPANISH  ART,  LITERATURE,  AND   SPORT.  331 

painter,  but  formed  his  style,  like  Velasquez,  on  the  works  of 
Ribera  and  the  Italian  naturalistic  painters.  Like  that  great 
master,  too,  he  modified  his  "manner"  three  times,  as  he 
gained  in  experience  and.  knowledge.  From  his  boyhood 
he  painted  pictures  which  were  sold  in  the  market-place  of 
his  native  city,  and  bought  by  dealers;  chiefly,  it  is  said,  for 
exportation  to  the  Spanish  colonies  in  America.  After  ob- 
taining a  considerable  reputation  at  Seville,  he  went  to  Ma- 
drid to  improve  himself  by  the  study  of  the  works  of  the 
great  Italian  masters  in  the  royal  collection.  Their  influ- 
ence led  him  to  modify  his  first  style,  called  by  the  Spaniards 
frio  (cold),  in  which  he  had  imitated  the  brown  tints,  dark 
shadows,  and  conventional  treatment  of  drapery  of  Ribera; 
but  he  did  not  abandon  it  altogether.  It  may  still  be  traced 
in  his  second,  or  calido  (warm)  manner,  as  in  the  celebrated 
"Holy  Family,"  called  "del  Pajarito,"  in  the  Madrid  Gal- 
lery. The  advice  of  Velasquez,  who  treated  him  with  great 
kindness,  and  the  works  of  Titian  and  Rubens,  led  him  to 
adopt  a  warm,  harmonious  and  transparent  coloring,  and  a 
more  truthful  rendering  of  nature;  at  the  same  time  his 
drawing  became  more  free,  if  not  more  correct.  His  third 
manner  is  termed  by  the  Spaniards  vapor oso  (misty),  from 
a  gradual  and  almost  imperceptible  fusion  of  tints,  produc- 
ing a  kind  of  hazy  effect.  In  it  are  painted,  for  the  most 
part,  his  well-known  "Miraculous  Conceptions,"  the  Virgin 
standing  on  the  crescent  moon  attended  by  angels.  The 
.three  manners  of  Murillo  are  neither  so  well  defined  nor  so 
easily  recognized  as  those  of  Velasquez.  He  never  com- 
pletely abandoned  one  of  them  for  the  other,  and  in  his  last 
pictures  he  frequently  returned  to  the  calido  style.  As  a 
painter  of  portraits  and  landscapes,  he  was  inferior  to  Velas- 
quez. It  was  only  in  religious  subjects,  and  especially  in  his 
Holy  Families,  that  he  surpassed  him.  His  Virgins  are 
taken  from  the  common  type  of  Andalusian  beauty,  slightly 
idealized ;  but  he  gives  to  them  an  expression  of  youthful  in- 
nocence and  religious  sentiment  which  makes  him  the  most 
popular  of  Spanish  painters.  The  Spaniards  are  naturally 
proud  of  him.  They  believe  that  he  unites  the  best  qualities 
of  the  greatest  masters,  and  surpasses  them  all.  All  other 
critics  place  him  second  to  Velasquez,  who  unquestionably 
possessed  a  more  original  genius.  Comparisons  between 
these  two  great  painters  are,  however,  more  than  usually 
pointless  and  misleading,  the  two  men  being  essentially 
different  in  feeling,  taste,  and  manner. 


332  HISTORY   OF  SPAIN. 

Returning  to  Seville,  after  his  first  and  only  visit  to 
Madrid,  Murillo  established  himself  there  for  the  rest  of 
his  life,  painting,  with  the  help  of  scholars,  many  pictures 
for  churches  and  convents  in  Spain  and  her  colonies.  In 
the  Peninsula,  his  best  works  are  now  only  found  at  Madrid 
and  in  his  native  city.  The  French  invaders  and  the  pict- 
ure-dealers carried  the  greater  number  away.  Among  those 
most  worthy  of  note  at  Madrid  are  the  "St.  Elizabeth  of 
Hungary  tending  the  Sick,"  and  the  "Patrician's  Dream," 
now  in  the  Academy  of  San  Fernando,  and  the  two  ' '  Immac- 
ulate Conceptions"  in  the  Gallery:  at  Seville,  "St.  Thomas 
of  Villanueva  distributing  Alms  to  the  Poor,"  in  the  public 
Museum;  the  "St.  Anthony  of  Padua"  in  the  Cathedral;  and 
the  pictures  in  the  Caridad.  Of  his  well-known  sunburned 
beggar-boys  and  girls  there  are  none,  that  we  know  of,  in 
Spain ;  many  of  those  in  European  collections  are  probably 
by  his  favorite  pupil,  VILLAYICENCIO,  in  whose  arms  he  died 
at  Seville  in  1682.  There  is  a  picture  by  this  painter,  who 
was  of  a  noble  family,  and  rather  an  amateur  than  an  artist, 
in  the  Madrid  Gallery,  representing  a  group  of  boys  at  play. 
It  has  no  great  merit,  but  shows  how  he  attempted  to  imitate 
his  master  in  this  class  of  subject.  He  was  born  in  1635, 
and  died  in  1700.  The  imitations  and  copies  of  Murillo  by 
TOBAR  (d.  1758)  are  so  successful  that  they  frequently  pass 
for  originals.  The  same  may  be  said  of  some  by  MENESES, 
who  died  early  in  the  18th  century. 

Among  the  contemporaries  of  Murillo  was  IRIARTE  (b. 
1620;  d.  1685),  one  of  the  few  landscape-painters  that  Spain 
has  produced.  His  landscapes  were  much  esteemed  by 
Murillo,  but  they  are  not  entitled  to  rank  with  the  works  of 
any  of  the  great  masters  in  this  branch  of  the  art.  The 
Madrid  Gallery  contains  five  examples  of  them. 

The  following  painters  may  be  mentioned  among  the  best 
and  most  characteristic  of  the  second  class  in  the  Spanish 
school:  FRANCISCO  DE  ZURBARAN,  born  in  Estremadura 
in  1598,  died  at  Madrid,  1662,  was  essentially  a  religious 
painter,  and  his  somber  coloring  and  the  subjects  of  his  pict- 
ures are  characteristic  of  Spanish  bigotry  and  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion. In  Spain  he  is  chiefly  known  by  his  altar-pieces  for 
churches  and  convents ;  out  of  Spain  by  his  monks  and  friars. 
A  few  figures  of  female  saints  prove  that  he  was  not  insensi- 
ble to  grace  of  form  and  beauty  of  color.  But  he  is  usually 
mannered,  and  without  dignity.  A  disagreeable  reddish  hue 
pervades  his  larger  pictures.  He  formed  himself,  like  his 


SPANISH  ART,  LITERATURE,  AND   SPORT.  333 

contemporaries,  on  the  study  of  the  Italian  painters  of  the 
Naturalistic  school.  Philip  IV.  is  said  to  have  named  him 
"Painter  of  the  King,  and  King  of  Painters."  He  enjoyed 
the  first  title,  but  did  not  merit  the  second.  His  best  work  in 
Spain  is,  perhaps,  the  "Apotheosis  of  St.  Thomas  Aquinas," 
in  the  Seville  Museum.  It  is  a  grand,  but  somewhat  stiff 
and  unpleasing  composition.  Zurbaran  is  badly  represented 
in  the  Madrid  Gallery.  The  "Christ  Sleeping  on  the  Cross" 
is  the  most  popular  in  it.  One  or  two  of  his  works  are  to  be 
found  in  the  Academy  of  San  Fernando. 

ALONSO  CANO  (born  at  Granada,  1601;  died  there,  1667) 
enjoys  the  highest  reputation  in  Spain  after  Zurbaran.  He 
was  painter,  sculptor,  and  architect,  and,  moreover,  carved 
and  painted  wooden  figures  of  the  Virgin  and  Saints,  an  art 
in  which  he  attained  great  success  and  renown.  Many  ex- 
amples of  his  skill  may  be  seen  at  Granada.  One  of  the 
most  celebrated  is  the  statuette  of  St.  Francis  in  the  sacristy 
of  the  Cathedral  of  Toledo.  Cano  was  a  violent,  but  not 
unkindly  man,  constantly  engaged  in  quarrels  and  lawsuits. 
He  ended  by  becoming  a  canon  of  the  Cathedral  of  Granada, 
after  narrowly  escaping  from  the  clutches  of  the  Inquisition. 
His  drawing  is  carefully  studied,  but  is  frequently  exagger- 
ated, and  wants  ease  and  flow;  his  coloring  conventional  and 
somewhat  weak;  but  there  is  a  delicacy  of  expression  and 
refinement  in  his  works  which  have  earned  him  the  praise  of 
some  critics.  The  Madrid  Gallery  contains  a  few  of  his  pict- 
ures: among  them  a  "Dead  Christ";  but  he  is  best  seen  at 
Granada. 

FRANCISCO -HERRER A  EL  VIEJO,  or  the. elder  (b.  1576; 
d.  1656).  His  principal  works  are  at  Seville  and  out  of  Spain. 
The  Madrid  Gallery  contains  nothing  by  him.  Spanish  writ- 
ers on  art  attribute  to  him  the  introduction  into  Spain  of  a 
new  style  of  painting,  characteristic  of  the  national  genius. 
It  was  vigorous,  but  coarse,  and  has  little  to  recommend  it 
even  to  those  who  admire  the  Italian  eclectic  school.  Like 
Cano,  he  was  a  man  of  hot  temper,  quarreled  with  his  pupils, 
among  whom  was  Velasquez,  and  was  thrown  into  prison  on 
a  charge  of  coining  false  money.  He  was  released  by  Philip 
IV.  on  account  of  his  merits  as  a  painter.  His  best  work  in 
Spain  is  the  "Last  Judgment,"  in  the  church  of  St.  Bernardo 
at  Seville,  which  is  praised  for  its  composition  and  the  cor- 
rect anatomy  of  the  human  form.  Herrera  painted  in  fresco, 
for  which  he  was  well  fitted  from  his  bold  and  rapid  execu- 
tion ;  but  his  works  in  that  material  have  mostly  perished. 


334  HIS1ORY    OF  SPAIN. 

FRANCISCO  HERRERA  EL,  Mozo,  or  the  younger  (b.  1622; 
d.  1685),  son  of  the  former,  studied  at  Rome,  where  he  was 
chiefly  known  for  his  pictures  of  dead  animals  and  still  life. 
The  Italians  nicknamed  him  "Lo  Spagnuolo  dei  pesci,"  from 
his  clever  representations  of  fish.  He  was  a  painter  of  small 
merit;  weak  and  affected  in  his  drawing,  color,  and  compo- 
sition. The  Madrid  Gallery  contains  but  one  of  his  pictures 
— the  "Triumph  of  St.  Hermenegildo. "  Like  his  father,  he 
painted  frescoes,  some  of  which  are  still  preserved  in  the 
churches  of  Madrid.  He  was  also  an  architect,  and  made 
the  plans  for  the  "Virgen  del  Pilar"  at  Saragossa. 

JUAN  DE  LAS  ROELAS,  commonly  known  in  Spain  as  "El 
Clerigo  Roelas,"  was  born  at  Seville  about  1558,  and  died  in 
1625.  He  studied  at  Venice;  hence  the  richness  and  bril- 
liancy of  color  in  his  best  works,  as  in  the  fine  picture  of  the 
"Martyrdom  of  St.  Andrew,"  in  the  Museum  of  Seville.  In 
the  churches  of  that  city  are  some  altar-pieces  by  him  worthy 
of  notice.  He  is  scarcely  known  out  of  Spain,  or,  indeed, 
out  of  Seville,  although  he  may  be  ranked  among  the  best 
of  the  Spanish  painters  of  the  second  rank.  The  picture  in 
the  Madrid  Gallery  attributed  to  him,  if  genuine,  is  a  very 
inferior  work. 

JUAN  DE  VALDES  LEAL,  born  at  Cordova  in  1630,  died 
at  Seville  1691,  was  a  painter  of  considerable  ability,  but  of 
a  hasty  and  jealous  temper,  which  he  especially  displayed 
toward  Murillo,  the  superiority  of  whose  work  he  would  not 
acknowledge.  His  pictures  are  rare,  and  are  best  seen  at 
Seville.  The  Caridad  in  that  city  contains  two,  representing 
the  "Triumph  of  Death,"  which  are  powerful,  but  coarse. 
He  was  also  an  engraver  of  skill. 

FRANCISCO  RIZZI,  the  son  of  a  Bolpgnese  painter  who  had 
settled  in  Spain,  was  born  at  Madrid  in  1608,  and  died  there 
in  1685.  He  was  a  rapid  and  not  unskillful  painter,  and  was 
employed  to  decorate  in  fresco,  in  the  Italian  fashion,  the 
churches  and  royal  palaces  of  the  capital.  His  well-known 
picture  in  the  Madrid  Gallery  representing  the  "Auto  da 
Fe"  held  in  the  Plaza  Mayor  before  Charles  II.  and  his 
queen,  Marie  Luisa  of  Orleans,  in  1680,  although  awkward 
and  formal  in  composition,  is  cleverly  painted. 

CLAUDIO  COELLO,  died  1693,  was  chiefly  employed  by 
the  Spanish  court  in  portrait-painting  and  in  decorating  the 
royal  palaces  for  triumphs  and  festivities.  His  best  known 
and  most  important  picture,  in  the  sacristy  of  the  Escorial, 
is  the  "Santa  Forma,"  or  "Removal  of  the  Miraculous  Wafer 


SPANISH  ART,  LITERATURE,  AND  SPORT.  335 

of  Gorcum,"  in  which  he  has  introduced  portraits  of  Charles 
II.  and  of  the  officers  of  his  court.  It  is  crowded  and  un- 
skillful in  composition,  but  has  merits  which  show  that  he 
had  preserved  the  best  traditions  of  the  Spanish  school  of 
painters,  of  whom  he  was  almost  the  last. 

The  history  of  Spanish  painting  closes  with  the  seventeenth 
century.  During  the  eighteenth  there  appeared  a  few  feeble 
painters  who  imitated,  but  were  even  immeasurably  behind, 
the  Luca  Giordanos,  Tiepolos,  and  other  Italians  whom  the 
Bourbon  kings  invited  to  Madrid  to  decorate  the  new  royal 
palace,  and  to  make  designs  for  the  royal  manufactory  of 
tapestries.  The  first  who  attempted  to  revive  Spanish  art 
was  FRANCISCO  GOYA  (born  in  1746),  a  vigorous  but  eccen- 
tric painter  and  etcher  in  aqua  fortis,  not  wanting  in  genius. 
He  studied  at  Rome,  and  returning  to  Spain  executed  fres- 
coes, with  little  success,  in  churches  at  Madrid  and  else- 
where. He  became  "pintor  de  camara,"  or  court  painter, 
to  the  weak  Charles  IV.  and  vicious  Ferdinand  VII.  In 
numerous  portraits  of  these  kings  and  of  members  of  the 
Spanish  Bourbon  family  he  made  them,  perhaps  with  delib- 
erate malice — for  in  politics  he  was  an  ardent  liberal — even 
more  hideous  than  they  were.  His  large  picture  of  Charles 
IV.  and  his  family  in  the  Madrid  Gallery  is  the  best,  but  by 
no  means  an  attractive  example  of  his  skill,  and  is  in  parts, 
especially  in  the  details  of  costume,  not  altogether  unworthy 
of  Velasquez,  whom  he  sought  to  imitate.  But  his  genius 
was  chiefly  shown  in  his  etchings,  in  which,  in  a  grotesque, 
and  not  always  decent  way,  he  lashed  the  vices  and  corrup- 
tion of  his  country,  and  vented  his  hatred  against  its  French 
invaders.  The  Spaniards  are  very  proud  of  Goya.  The 
author  of  the  "Guide  to  the  Madrid  Gallery"  discovers  in 
his  works  a  union  of  the  best  qualities  of  Rembrandt,  Titian, 
Paul  Veronese,  Watteau,  and  Lancret !  He  was,  no  doubt, 
a  powerful  and  original  painter,  and  his  touch  is  often  mas- 
terly ;  but  he  was  incorrect  in  his  drawing,  and  his  color  is 
fret^  ently  exaggerated  and  unnatural.  His  designs  for  the 
tapefetries  in  the  royal  palaces  are  generally  weak  and  ill- 
drawn  ;  but  they  are  interesting  as  representations  of  national 
manners  and  costume.  Goya  died  in  voluntary  exile  at  Bor- 
deaux in  1828,  having  left  Spain  disgusted  with  the  political 
reaction  which  set  in  on  the  restoration  of  the  Bourbons,  and 
with  the  persecution  of  the  best  and  most  enlightened  of  his 
countrymen .  His  works  have  of  late  years  been  much  sought 
after,  especially  in  France.  His  etchings,  consisting  chiefly 

15 


336  HISTORY   OF 'SPAIN. 

of  political  caricatures  (caprichos),  scenes  in  the  bull-ring, 
the  horrors  of  war,  etc.,  are  rare.  A  new  edition  has  re- 
cently been  published  of  the  "Caprichos"  from  the  worn-out 
plates. 

Goya  may  be  considered  the  founder  of  the  modern  Span- 
ish school  of  painting,  which  has  produced  Fortuny,  Madrazo, 
Palmaroli,  and  a  number  of  other  clever  painters  who  have 
achieved  a  European  reputation.  It  is  not,  however,  in  Spain, 
but  in  the  private  collections  of  London,  Paris,  and  New 
York,  that  their  principal  works  are  to  be  found.  Spaniards 
have  little  love  or  knowledge  of  art,  and  the  high  prices  it  is 
now  the  fashion  to  pay  for  Spanish  pictures  are  beyond  their 
means. 

The  history  of  architecture  in  Spain  is  similar  to  that  of 
France  and  other  countries  of  northern  Europe,  with,  how- 
ever, the  essential  difference  that  Moorish  art  in  the  Middle. 
Ages  attained  in  Spain  as  great  an  importance  as  in  the  East, 
and  when  combined  with  Christian  art,  a  new  style  was 
formed,  known  by  the  name  of  Morisco  or  Mudejar,  which 
is  not  met  with  out  of  the  Spanish  Peninsula,  and  is  of  great 
interest. 

Spanish  architecture  may  be  divided,  after  the  prehistoric 
period,  and  invasions  of  the  Phoenicians  and  Carthaginians, 
in  the  following  manner: 

1.  Roman  period,  until  the  invasions  of  the  Goths. 

2.  Latin  Byzantine  style,  fifth  to  end  of  tenth  century. 

3.  Moorish  architecture,  eighth  to  fifteenth  century. 

4.  Romanesque  style,  eleventh,  twelfth,  and  part  of  thir- 
teenth century. 

5.  Pointed  architecture,  thirteenth,  fourteenth,  fifteenth, 
and  part  of  sixteenth  century. 

6.  Mudejar  style,  thirteenth,  fourteenth,  fifteenth,  and 
part  of  sixteenth  century. 

7.  Renaissance  or  Plateresque  style,  Graeco-Roman,  and 
Churrigueresque. 

Several  of  the  inscriptions  which  have  come  down  to  us 
of  the  Roman  period  (see  "Corpus  Inscrip.,"  Vol.  II.,  Emil 
Hiibner)  mention  different  buildings  of  public  utility  and 
adornment  which  were  in  course  of  construction  in  Spain. 
The  number  which  still  remains  is  very  great,  and  may  be 
found  in  almost  every  province ;  many  have,  however,  been 
sadly  mutilated.  The  finest  are  undoubtedly  the  aqueduct 
at  Segovia  (constructed  of  huge  stones,  and  still  used  for 


SPANISH   ART,  LITERATURE,  AND   SPORT.  337 

carrying  water  to  the  town),  the  Bridge  of  Alcantara  (Es- 
tremadura),  with  its  triumphal  arch  in  the  center  and  temple 
at  one  end,  and  the  walls  of  Lugo  and  Astorga.  The  gen- 
eral structure  of  these  monuments  and  their  ornamentation 
are  the  same  as  those  of  ancient  Rome :  it  is  well  known  that 
the  Romans  imposed  their  art  on  the  countries  which  came 
under  their  dominion. 

Two  remarkable  specimens  exist  of  the  Visigothic  period : 
the  church  of  San  Roman  de  Hornija  (near  Toro),  646,  and 
San  Juan  de  Banos  (near  Venta  de  Banos),  661.  Although 
these  churches  have  suffered  much  from  later  additions,  they 
still  retain  a  great  part  of  their  construction  and  part  of  the 
primitive  building.  A  great  number  of  fragments  remain 
in  Spain  of  this  period.  They  must  be  examined  in  order  to 
judge  this  architecture.  Some  are  capitals  of  columns  in  the 
Cathedral  of  Cordova  and  some  churches  at  Toledo,  and  dif- 
ferent friezes  and  fragments  which  have  been  applied  to 
different  uses  at  Toledo  and  Merida.  The  votive  crowns 
found  at  Guarrazar,  now  at  Cluny  (Paris)  and  armory  of 
Madrid,  give  an  excellent  idea  of  the  ornamentation  of  the 
Visigoths.  Several  examples  of  architecture  remain  poste- 
rior to  the  Visigoths,  and  anterior  to  the  Romanesque  style 
of  the  eleventh  century.  The  most  important  are  the  churches 
of  Sta.  Maria  Naranco  and  St.  Miguel  de  Lino,  near  Oviedo, 
Sta.  Christina  de  Lena  (Asturias),  a  very  remarkable  speci- 
men of  Byzantine  construction,  and  the  churches  of  San 
Pedro  and  San  Pablo,  Barcelona. 

The  invasion  of  the  Arabs  in  711  caused  their  architecture 
to  extend  itself  in  the  Peninsula.  Its  adaptation  to  churches 
and  other  buildings  of  the  Christians  created  a  new  style, 
known  as  Mudejar.  The  finest  specimen  of  Oriental  archi- 
tecture in  Spain  is  the  mosque  at  Cordova  (ninth  century). 
Byzantine  models  were  copied  there  in  the  same  manner  as 
at  Jerusalem,  Damascus,  and  Cairo.  The  small  mosque  at 
Toledo  (Cristo  de  la  Luz)  is  of  the  same  period,  and  part  of 
the  church  of  Santiago  de  Penalva  ( Vierzo),  the  only  example 
which  is  known  of  a  Christian  church  built  in  the  Moorish 
style. 

During  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries  this  architect- 
ure underwent  radical  modifications  in  Spain,  in  the  same 
manner  as  in  the  East,  and  a  new  style  arose  which  is  very 
different  to  the  earlier  one.  No  writers  on  this  subject  have 
explained  this  transformation  in  the  East  in  a  satisfactory 
manner:  it  is  not  easy  to  study  this  transition  in  Spain,  for 


338  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

it  coincides  with  the  time  in  which  the  Spanish  Moors  were 
not  rich  or  powerful  enough  to  build  large  constructions,  as 
they  did  in  the  thirteenth  century,  after  the  kings  of  Gra- 
nada had  settled  there.  At  this  period  of  their  art  the  forms 
of  capitals,  which  partook  of  a  Byzantine  and  classical  form, 
changed.  Tiles  are  used  to  decorate  the  walls,  which  are 
covered  with  an  ornamentation  in  relief  in  stucco,  in  which 
are  introduced  inscriptions  in  Cufic  and  African  characters; 
the  ceilings  are  decorated  with  inlaid  woodwork  and  stalac- 
tical  pendentives  in  stucco.  This  style  ends  with  the  con- 
quest of  Granada,  1492.  The  Alhambra  is  the  most  impor- 
tant example  of  this  architecture,  and  following  it  the  Alcazar 
of  Seville. 

Owing  to  the  gradual  conquests  by  the  Christians  of 
towns  belonging  to  the  Mohammedans,  several  of  them 
continued  to  be  inhabited  by  Moors,  who  kept  their  customs 
and  religion.  They  were  called  Moriscos  or  Mudejares. 
The  chief  industries  of  the  country  were  in  their  hands,  and 
several  churches  and  other  buildings  of  importance  were 
built  by  them.  They  accommodated  their  architecture  to 
European  or  Christian  necessities,  and  created  a  new  style 
(Mudejar),  a  mixture  of  Christian  and  Moorish  art,  which  is 
only  to  be  found  in  the  Spanish  Peninsula.  The  finest  speci- 
mens are  of  the  fourteenth  century.  The  religious  construc- 
tions of  this  period  are  remarkable  for  their  brick- work  in 
towers  and  apses,  and  fine  wooden  ceilings,  artesonados. 
Examples  exist  at  Toledo,  Seville,  and  Granada.  The  in- 
teresting synagogues  built  by  Moriscos  are  at  Toledo  and 
Segovia.  As  specimens  of  civil  architecture,  the  finest  are 
Casade  Pilatos  (Seville),  Palace  of  Mendoza  (Guadalajara), 
Archbishop's  Palace  (Alcala),  Casa  de  Mesa  (Toledo).  This 
style  continued  in  vogue  during  the  greater  part  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  although  late  Gothic  was  everywhere  pre- 
dominant. A  most  striking  example  in  which  the  three 
styles— Moorish,  Flamboyant,  and  Renaissance — are  com- 
bined, is  to  be  found  in  a  chapel  of  the  cathedral  of  Sigiienza. 

The  Romanesque  style  of  architecture  was  imported  in 
the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries  from  France,  even  more 
directly  than  in  other  countries,  owing  to  the  immense  influ- 
ence exercised  by  a  large  number  of  prelates  and  priests,  who 
came  from  Cluny  and  Cister,  and  the  French  princes  and 
families  who  settled  in  Spain.  The  general  features  of  this 
architecture  are  similar  to  those  of  France :  the  differences 
exist  chiefly  in  the  general  plan  ot  the  churches  rather  than 


SPANISH  ART,  LITERATURE,  AND  SPORT.  339 

in  their  construction  and  ornamentation.  The  choirs  in 
Spanish  cathedrals  are  placed  in  the  central  nave,  a  tradi- 
tional remembrance  of  the  early  basilica.  In  some  localities, 
Segovia,  Avila,  and  Valladolid,  some  of  these  churches  have 
external  cloisters,  an  Oriental  or  Italian  modification,  which 
never  occurs  in  France  or  the  north  of  Europe.  Romanesque 
examples  are  very  numerous  in  Spain.  Some,  such  as  the 
doorway  of  the  Cathedral  of  Santiago  (Galicia),  and  the  Old 
Cathedral  (Salamanca),  are  not  surpassed  by  any  similar 
buildings  in  Europe.  Specimens  are  only  found  in  the  north- 
ern provinces,  as  the  south  was  not  conquered  from  the 
Moors  until  the  thirteenth  century.  Interesting  examples 
exist  in  Asturias,  Galicia,  Castile,  Aragon,  and  Cataluna. 
The  cloisters  of  Gerona  and  Tarragona  are  unrivaled.  Of 
the  many  striking  examples  of  Transition  from  Romanesque 
to  Early  Pointed,  the  finest  are  the  old  cathedral  of  Lerida, 
the  cathedrals  of  Tarragona  and  Santiago,  and  the  collegiate 
church  of  Tudela. 

The  specimens  of  Pointed  style  in  Spain  present  no  other 
variety  than  the  choirs  in  the  centers  of  the  cathedrals.  Al- 
though this  style  was  imported  from  France  early  in  the 
thirteenth  century,  in  the  same  manner  as  in  Germany,  Ro- 
manesque churches  continued  to  be  built,  and  Pointed  archi- 
tecture was  only  finally  adopted  at  the  end  of  the  century. 
The  finest  cathedrals  in  Spain  of  this  architecture  are  those 
of  Toledo,  Leon,  and  Burgos.  A  great  number  of  civil  and 
religious  buildings  of  this  style  are  to  be  met  with  in  Spain, 
in  which  the  art-student  will  find  constant  elements  of  study : 
it  underwent  the  same  modifications  in  Spain  as  in  other 
countries,  until  it  reached,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  its  latest 
period,  the  Flamboyant  style.  This  style  lasts  longer  in 
Spain  than  in  other  countries,  and  acquires  great  importance. 
The  cathedrals  of  Salamanca  (la  neuva)  and  Segovia,  both 
built  in  late  Gothic,  were  begun  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
when  in  other  parts  of  Europe  and  even  in  Spain  itself  Italian 
Renaissance  models  were  largely  imported.  Spanish  cathe- 
drals are  undoubtedly,  with  the  exception  of  Italy,  the  most 
interesting  in  Europe ;  for  although  they  cannot  compete  in 
architectural  details  with  those  of  France,  they  are  vastly 
superior  in  regard  to  the  objects  they  contain  of  ecclesiastical 
furniture  of  every  kind — iron  railings,  carved  stalls,  mon- 
strances, church-plate,  vestments,  pictures,  and  sepulchers. 
Toledo  and  Seville  cathedrals  are  museums  in  their  way. 

Italian  models  were  copied  in  Spain  from  the  end  of  the 


340  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

fifteenth  century.  The  portals  of  Santa  Cruz  at  Valladolid 
and  Toledo  are  of  this  period.  Gothic  architecture  contin- 
ued, however,  for  several  years  to  alternate  with  this  style. 
The  combination  of  these  styles  produced  an  important  series 
of  models  known  in  Spain  by  the  name  of  Plateresco. 

The  revival  of  the  fine  arts  coincided  in  Spain  with  the 
greatest  power  and  richness  of  the  country.  The  marriage 
of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  united  Castile,  Aragon,  and  the 
kingdom  of  Naples.  The  conquest  of  Granada  completed 
the  political  unity  of  the  country :  the  discoveries  of  Colum- 
bus, Cortes,  and  Pizarro  brought  riches  from  a  new  world, 
and  the  union  with  the  House  of  Austria,  the  Flemish  States, 
an  immense  power,  which  it  enjoyed  during  the  reign  of 
the  Emperor  Charles  V.  Renaissance  architecture  is  better 
represented  in  Spain  than  in  any  other  country  except  Italy. 
In  almost  all  towns  of  importance  admirable  examples  of 
this  style  will  be  found.  The  finest  are  at  Salamanca :  the 
University,  Santo  Domingo,  Casa  de  las  Conchas,  and  Sal- 
inas, San  Marcos  (Leon),  Casa  de  Ayuntamiento  (Seville), 
Valladolid,  Saragossa,  Burgos,  etc. 

The  cathedral  and  palace  of  Charles  V.  (Granada)  may 
be  quoted  as  an  example  of  pure  Grseco-Roman  style.  Part 
of  the  Alcazar  at  Toledo  belongs  to  this  same  period.  The 
tendency  to  copy  classical  models  increased  daily.  The  Mon- 
astery of  the  Escorial  may  be  considered  the  most  important 
specimen  of  this  school.  In  the  seventeenth  century  the 
Borromenisco  style  was  imported  from  Italy.  The  Pantheon 
at  the  Escorial  is  a  good  example.  This  architectural  decay 
increased  in  Spain  with  great  rapidity,  and  in  no  country  did 
it  reach  to  such  an  extravagant  point.  It  lasted  during  the 
seventeenth  and  part  of  the  eighteenth  centuries.  In  Spain 
this  style  is  called  Churrigueresque,  after  the  architect  Chur- 
riguera.  Examples  will  be  found  everywhere.  The  Trans- 
parente  (Cathedral  of  Toledo),  retablos  of  San  Esteban 
(Salamanca),  Cartuja  (Granada),  and  fagade  of  Hospicio 
(Madrid),  may  be  considered  the  most  remarkable. 

The  creation  of  the  Academy  of  San  Fernando,  the 
French  architects  who  accompanied  Philip  V.,  and  the 
efforts  of  Charles  III.  to  favor  classical  studies,  produced 
the  same  pretentious  and  classical  reaction  as  in  the  rest  of 
Europe.  The  Palace  and  Convent  of  Salesas  (Madrid)  are 
specimens  of  the  first  movement.  The  Museo  and  Observa- 
tory of  Madrid  belong  to  the  end  of  the  last  and  beginning 
of  the  present  century. 


SPANISH  ART,  LITERATURE,  AND  SPORT.  341 


SPANISH   LITERATURE 

THE  history  of  Spanish  literature  commences  at  the  end 
of  the  eleventh  or  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century,  when 
the  dialect  emerged  from  the  corrupted  Latin,  and  became 
an  independent  language  capable  of  producing  literary  works. 

The  origin  of  the  language  may  be  traced  to  the  writers 
of  the  sixth,  seventh,  to  the  eleventh  century.  They  wrote 
in  the  more  or  less  barbarous  Latin  of  the  period.  The  most 
important  authors  of  this  time  were  San  Isidore  and  his 
pupils,  St.  Eugenio,  St.  Ildefonso,  St.  Eulogio,  Alvaro,  San- 
som,  Pero  Alonso,  and  Oliva.  The  writers  of  the  Roman 
period,  Porcio  Latro,  Seneca,  Lucan,  Martial,  Pomponius 
Mela,  Collumela,  Silius  Italicus,  and  Quintillian,  though 
born  in  Spain,  must  be  numbered  among  classical  authors. 
The  Spanish  language  is  derived  in  a  direct  manner  from  the 
Latin,  though  it  has  been  enriched  by  a  great  number  of 
words  belonging  to  the  different  nations  which  have  occupied 
the  whole  or  part  of  the  Peninsula.  Iberian,  Punic,  Greek, 
Visigothic,  Hebrew,  and  Arabic  words  are  met  with  in  large 
numbers.  The  abundance  of  these  last  has  induced  some 
critics  to  infer  that  the  origin  of  the  language  is  Semitic,  but 
its  grammatical  structure  is  undoubtedly  Latin.  The  abun- 
dance of  Oriental  words  does  not  influence  its  organization, 
or  produce  any  further  result  than  to  add  nouns  to  the 
language. 

Spanish  literature  is  generally  divided  into  three  groups 
— twelfth  century  to  end  of  fifteenth;  sixteenth  to  seven- 
teenth; eighteenth  to  the  present  day. 

It  is  highly  probable  that  Spanish  poetry  began  by  com- 
memorating the  heroic  deeds  of  Pelayo  and  other  heroes  who 
fought  against  the  Moors ;  but  we  can  trace  nothing  to  that 
period.  The  earliest  compositions  which  have  reached  us 
are,  a  "Charter  of  Oviedo,"  1145  (the  "Charter  of  Aviles," 
1155,  has  been  proved  to  be  a  forgery),  and  two  poems  on 
the  Cid,  the  favorite  hero  of  popular  Spanish  poetry,  1040- 
1099.  The  best  of  these  poems  is  the  one  beginning:  El  mio 
Cid  (vide  Ticknor).  Though  incomplete,  it  constitutes  a  real 
epic  poem,  and  if  examined  in  detail  appears  to  have  been 
written  at  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century.  Three  con- 
temporary works  have  reached  us :  "La  Vida  de  Santa  Maria 


342  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 

Egipciaca,"  "El  Libro  de  los  tres  reyes  d' Orient,"  and  "Los 
tres  reyes  magos. "  The  first  two  were  evidently  written 
under  a  French  influence;  "Los  tres  reyes  magos"  was 
written  for  recital  in  a  church. 

The  same  intellectual  development  appears  in  Spain  in 
the  thirteenth  century  as  in  Italy  and  France.  The  univer- 
sities of  Palencia  and  Salamanca  contributed  toward  it.  The 
tendency  of  the  writers  of  this  period  is  to  imitate  classic  au- 
thors. A  priest,  Gonzalo  de  Berceo,  is  the  first  poet  of  any 
importance  in  the  thirteenth  century,  1230 :  he  wrote  a  large 
number  of  verses  on  religious  subjects.  His  poem  to  the 
Virgin  contains  some  poetical  passages.  Two  poems  ap- 
peared shortly  afterward,  "El  Libro  de  Apollonio"  and  "El 
Libro  de  Alexandre,"  by  J.  Lorenzo  Segura,  adapted  from 
the  history  of  Alexandre  Le  Grand,  by  Chatillon.  The  poem 
"Fernan  Gonzalez"  is  of  the  same  period:  it  is  free  from  for- 
eign influence.  Prose  is  improved  at  the  beginning  of  the 
century  by  the  translation  from  Latin  of  the  "Fuero  Juzgo," 
and  other  historical  and  didactical  works. 

Don  Alonso  el  Sabio,  1221-1284,  absorbs  the  scientific  and 
literary  life  of  Spain  during  his  time :  the  most  eminent  of 
his  countrymen,  Spaniards,  Jews  and  Moors,  gathered  round 
him.  So  many  works  have  appeared  under  his  name  that  it 
is  incredible  they  should  all  have  been  written  by  him.  Prob- 
ably only  the  poems,  "Las  Querellas,"  written  in  the  Castil- 
ian  dialect,  are  his.  An  extensive  Universal  History,  the 
first  written  in  Europe  in  a  vernacular  language;  the  "Leyes 
de  Partidas,"  a  series  of  legal  works;  "El  Saber  de  Astrono- 
mia,"  a  cyclopedia  of  this  science  as  it  stood  at  that  time; 
the  "Cantigas,"  a  poem  containing  upward  of  four  hundred 
compositions  to  the  Virgin,  written  in  the  Galician  dialect 
and  in  the  Provengal  style,  and  several  other  works,  have 
passed  hitherto  as  proceeding  from  his  pen. 

Don  Sancho  el  Bravo,  a  son  of  Don  Alonso,  wrote  the 
"Lucidario"  and  "Libro  de  los  Castigos,"  a  moral  treatise 
dedicated  to  his  son.  The  "Libro  del  Tesoro"  and  "La  Gran 
Conquista  de  Ultramar"  were  translated  at  his  instigation 
from  the  Latin.  The  Infante,  Don  Juan  Manuel,  1282,  a 
nephew  of  Don  Alonso,  wrote  several  works  on  different 
subjects.  The  finest  is  the  interesting  collection  of  fables, 
"El  Conde  Lucanor."  They  are  earlier  than  the  Decame- 
rone  or  Canterbury  Tales. 

Spanish  poetry  revived  in  the  fourteenth  century.  The 
archpriest  of  Hita,  1330-1343,  wrote  thousands  of  verses  on 


SPANISH  ART,  LITERATURE,  AND  SPORT.  343 

different  subjects.  Rabbi  Don  Santob,  1350,  a  Spanish  Jew, 
dedicated  to  his  friend,  King  Peter  the  Cruel,  his  principal 
poetical  works.  The  best  is  on  the  "Danza  de  la  Muerte,"  a 
favorite  subject  of  that  time.  Pero  Lopez  de  Ayala,  1372- 
1407,  who  wrote  the  "Rimado  de  Palacio,"  and  Rodrigo 
Yanez,  the  author  of  the  "Poema  de  Alonso  XL,"  end  the 
series  of  poets  of  the  fourteenth  century.  Romances  of  chiv- 
alry became  popular  in  Spain  in  the  fifteenth  century :  their 
popularity  lasted  until  the  sixteenth,  when  Cervantes  pub- 
lished his  "Don  Quixote."  "Amadis  de  Gaula"  was  the  first 
work  of  importance  of  this  kind;  "Palmerin  de  Oliva,"  etc., 
follow  it.  The  Coronicas  belong  to  this  period.  They  are 
semi-historical  narratives,  in  which  the  leading  events  of 
each  reign  are  described. 

Provencal  style  was  introduced  into  Spain  early  in  the 
fifteenth  century.  It  became  very  popular  owing  to  the  pa- 
tronage of  Don  Juan  II. ,  1407-1454.  The  most  important 
courtiers  imitated  the  king's  example,  and  poems  have 
reached  us  by  Don  Alvaro  de  Luna,  Don  Alonso  de  Car- 
tagena and  others.  The  Marquis  of  Villena  and  Macias  be- 
long to  this  period.  Fernan  Perez  de  Guzman  wrote  at  this 
time  his  "Livros  de  los  claros  varones  de  Espana,"  and  Juan 
de  Mena,  an  excellent  poet,  his  "Laberynto"  and  "Dialogo 
delos  siete  Pecados  mortales."  The  last  poet  of  the  reign  of 
Don  Juan  II.  is  the  Marquis  of  Santillana.  Several  wrote 
late  in  the  century:  the  most  excellent  among  them  being 
Jorge  Manrique,  whose  "Coplas"  on  the  death  of  his  father 
are  admirable.  Novels  begin  at  this  time,  generally  copied 
from  Italian  models.  The  finest  is- "La  Celestina,"  written 
in  acts  like  a  drama,  one  of  the  best  works  in  Spanish  litera- 
ture. 

Romances  or  ballads  are  the  most  original  form  of  Span- 
ish poetry.  They  constitute  the  popular  epic  poem,  and  are 
the  most  spontaneous  productions  of  the  Spanish  language. 

The  revival  of  literature  coincides  in  Spain  with  the  period 
of  its  greatest  power  and  prosperity.  The  early  part  of  the 
sixteenth  century  is  called  "el  Siglo  de  oro."  An  Italian  in- 
fluence is  predominant.  Castillejo  keeps  to  the  earlier  style 
in  his  charming  compositions:  "Dialogo  entre  el  autor  y  su 
pluma, ' '  and ' '  Sermones  de  Amores. ' '  Boscan  and  Garcilaso 
were  the  first  to  introduce  the  Italian  measure  into  Spanish 
verse.  Some  poets  wrote  in  both  these  styles.  Gregorio 
Sylvestre  is  among  the  best  of  them ;  an  excellent  poet,  but 
very  little  known. 


344  HISTORY    OF  SPAIN. 

Garcilaso  was  the  earliest  lyrical  poet,  1503-1536.  His 
verses  are  pure  in  style,  in  the  manner  of  Virgil  and  Horace. 
His  life  is  interesting:  he  fought  by  the  side  of  Charles  V., 
and  was  killed  at  the  assault  of  the  fortress  of  Frejus  (Nice). 
One  of  his  contemporaries,  Hurtado  de  Mendoza,  a  soldier 
and  statesman,  popularized  classical  studies.  His  best  works 
are  the  "Rebellion  delos  Moriscos"  and  the  well-known  "La- 
zarillo  de  Tormes."  The  classical  style  is  now  universally 
adopted  in  Spain.  Fray  Luis  de  Leon  was  undoubtedly  the 
best  poet  of  this  period.  His  ode  on  the  "Ascension"  and  his 
"Poema  a  la  Virgen"  may  certainly  be  reckoned  among  the 
best  compositions  in  the  language.  Several  poets  of  an  infe- 
rior order  belong  to  the  sixteenth  century.  Cesina,  Acuna, 
Figueroa,  Medrano,  La  Torre,  Mesa  and  Alcazar  are  among 
the  best.  Their  works  are  clever  in  parts,  but  are  generally 
unequal.  This  characteristic  becomes  a  leading  feature  in 
Spanish  poetry.  At  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century  lyrics 
began  to  decay,  but  no  author  carried  affectation  and  exag- 
geration to  such  a  height  as  Gongora,  1561-1627:  a  gifted 
poet,  full  of  charm  in  his  simple  compositions  (vide  transla- 
tions by  Archdeacon  Churton),  though  most  obscure  in  his 
* '  Soledades' '  and  ' '  Polif  emo. ' '  This  style  was  called  in  Spain 
culteranismo,  and  not  even  the  best  dramatic  authors  of  the 
seventeenth  century  were  free  from  its  defects.  The  imitators 
of  Gongora  continued  until  the  eighteenth  century,  although 
here  and  there  a  poet  like  Rioja  tried  to  check  the  movement. 

Epic  poetry  in  Spain  is  inferior  to  the  dramatic  and  lyrical 
styles.  The  specimens  which  exist  are  cold  and  devoid  of 
inspiration.  "El  Monserrate,"  by  Virues;  "La  Cristiada," 
by  Hojeda;  "La  Vida  de  San  Jose,"  by  Valdivieso,  and 
"El  Bernardo,"  by  Balbuena,  may  be  quoted  as  examples. 
"La  Araucana,"  by  Ercilla,  contains  some  poetical  passages, 
but  in  general  is  hardly  more  than  a  historical  narrative. 
' '  La  Gatomaquia, ' '  by  Lope  de  Vega,  though  a  burlesque,  is 
considered  by  many  critics  the  best  epic  poem  in  the  Spanish 
language. 

Dramatic  literature  unites,  perhaps,  the  highest  condi- 
tions of  originality  and  power.  Its  earliest  productions  are 
the  liturgical  representations  of  the  Middle  Ages,  "Misterios" 
or  "Autos."  Although  works  of  this  kind  are  mentioned  as 
early  as  the  thirteenth  century,  the  first  which  have  a  dis- 
tinct dramatic  character  are  the  "Coplas"  de  Mingo  Revulgo 
and  "El  Dialogo  entre  el  Amor  y  un  vie  jo."  These  compo- 
sitions were  written  under  the  reign  of  Henry  IV.  At  the 


SPANISH  ART,  LITERATURE,  AND  SPORT.  345 

latter  part  of  the  fifteenth  century  a  series  of  dramatic  works 
already  existed.  Juan  de  la  Encina  began  the  history  of  the 
Spanish  drama.  Lucas  Fernandez  was  a  contemporary  writer, 
and  shortly  afterward  Gil  Vicente.  Torres  Naharro,  1517, 

Ei Wished  his  "Propaladia,"  which  contains  eight  comedies, 
ope  de  Rueda  founded  the  modern  school,  and  he  is  imi- 
tated and  improved  by  his  followers.  The  drama  does  not 
attain  its  highest  importance  until  Lope  de  Vega  (]  562-1635), 
the  most  prolific  of  Spanish  poets.  He  tells  us  he  had  writ- 
ten fifteen  hundred  plays,  without  counting  "Autos"  and 
"  Entremeses. "  Cervantes  says  that  forty  companies  of  ac- 
tors existed  at  this  time  in  Madrid  alone,  consisting  of  no  less 
than  one  thousand  actors.  In  1636,  three  hundred  compa- 
nies of  actors  acted  in  different  parts  of  Spain.  Lope  de 
Vega  is  rather  unequal  as  a  dramatic  author;  but  "El  mejor 
Alcalde  el  rey,"  "La  Estrella  de  Sevilla,"  "La  dama  boba," 
"La  moza  de  cantaro,"  entitle  him  to  rank  among  the  best 
European  dramatists.  Three  authors  share  Lope's  glory, 
Tirso,  Calderon  and  Alarcon. 

No  Spanish  dramatist  has  surpassed  Tirso  in  his  facility 
of  treating  the  most  varied  subjects  in  admirable  versifica- 
tion. His  comedy  of  "Don  Gil  de  las  calzas  verdes"  is  as 
good  as  his  dramas  of  "El  Rey  Don  Pedro  en  Madrid,"  "El 
condenado  por  desconfiado, "  or  "El  convidado  de  piedra." 
The  popular  type  of  Don  Juan  is  taken  from  this  drama. 
Alarcon  is  undoubtedly  the  most  philosophical  Spanish  dram- 
atist. His  comedy,  "Las  paredes  oyen,"  is  admirable,  and 
"La  verdad  sospechosa,"  so  much  admired  by  Corneille,  as 
he  tells  us  himself,  when  he  took  the  plot  for  his  "Menteur. " 
Calderon  is  the  most  popular  dramatic  author.  He  idealizes 
more  than  his  predecessors,  and  his  genius  embraces  the  most 
varied  subjects.  His  comedies  are  charming;  as  examples, 
"La  dama  duende"  and  "Casa  con  dos  puertas"  are  among 
the  best.  ' '  El  medico  de  su  honra' '  is  full  of  dramatic  power, 
and  nothing  can  be  more  poetical  than  "La  Vida  es  sueno." 
(Vide  MacCarthy's  translations.)  The  best  imitators  of  the 
great  dramatists  are  Rojas  and  Moreto:  "Garcia  del  Casta- 
nar"  by  the  former,  and  "Desden  con  el  Desden"  of  the 
latter,  are  equal  to  the  dramas  of  the  great  masters. 

The  earliest  Spanish  novels  are  "Lazarillo  de  Tormes," 
by  Hurtado  de  Mendoza,  and  the  "Diana  Enamorada,"  by 
Monte  Mayor.  They  are  followed  by  "El  Picaro  Guzman 
de  Alfarache"  and  "El  Escudero  Marcos  de  Obregon,"  by 
Aleman  and  Espinel.  A  great  number  of  novels  were  writ- 


346  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

ten  in  the  following  century,  but  were  all  eclipsed  by  Cer- 
vantes' "Bon  Quixote,"  which  is  too  well  known  to  need 
any  comment. 

Several  authors  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries 
cultivated  different  literary  styles.  Quevedo  is  the  most  re- 
markable of  them.  He  was  the  quaintest  and  most  original 
of  humorists.  He  wrote  a  number  of  works  of  real  merit, 
none  of  which  has  been  so  popular  as  his  "Satiras"  in  prose 
and  verse. 

Political  and  moralist  writers  of  the  sixteenth  and  seven- 
teenth centuries  are  very  numerous.  Of  these  Guevara,  Sta. 
Teresa,  Fray  Luis  de  Granada,  Gracian,  Saavedra  Fajardo, 
Mariana,  Morales,  Zurita,  and  Solis  are  the  most  remarkable. 

The  end  of  the  seventeenth  century  was  the  worst  period 
of  Spanish  literature.  Philip  V.,  the  first  king  of  the  House 
of  Bourbon,  1700,  did  his  utmost  to  improve  the  intellectual 
culture  of  the  country.  The  Biblioteca  Real  was  founded  in 
1711,  and  the  Academias  de  la  Lengua,  Historia,  and  Bellas 
Artes  in  1714 ;  several  literary  reviews  also  appeared.  The 
best  poets  of  this  period  are  Antonio  de  Toledo  and  Gerardo 
Lobo.  The  only  productions,  however,  of  any  literary  merit 
are  the  critical  works  of  Flores,  Masdeu,  Mayans  and  others. 
During  the  reign  of  Charles  III.,  1759-1788,  Melendez  wrote 
some  tolerable  verses.  He  is  followed  by  Fr.  Diego  Gon- 
zalez, Cienfuegos,  Nicolas  de  Moratin  and  others.  The  most 
original  writers  of  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  are,  how- 
ever, undoubtedly  Leandro  Moratin  and  Ramon.  The  two 
comedies,  "El  Si  de  las  ninas"  and  "El  Cafe,"  by  the  for- 
mer, are  charming,  and  the  "Sainetes,"  by  De  la  Cruz,  in 
the  manner  of  Plautus,  continue  to  be  very  popular  in  Spain. 

Spanish  literature  of  the  present  century  possesses  no  defi- 
nite character,  although  several  writers  can  bear  comparison 
with  the  best  Spanish  authors  of  other  periods.  Every  school 
and  style  has  been  copied:  Byron,  Schiller,  Goethe,  Victor 
Hugo,  and  Dumas.  The  earliest  author  of  any  importance 
is  Quintana,  a  correct  and  inspired  poet.  His  odes  on  "La 
Imprenta,"  "Panteon  del  Escorial,"  and  "Batalla  de  Tra- 
falgar" are  very  good.  Martinez  de  la  Rosa,  Lista,  and  Nl- 
casio  Gallegos  form  a  group  of  able  versifiers.  Espronceda 
is  a  constant  imitator  of  Byron,  although  his  legend  of  "El 
Estudiante  de  Salamanca"  is  original,  and  a  very  fine  com- 
position. Zorrilla  is  the  best  representative  of  the  romantic 
school  of  1 830-40 :  his  works  are  sometimes  unequal,  and  his 
legends  are  his  best  lyrical  compositions.  His  finest  dramas 


SPANISH  ART,  LITERAJVRE,  AND   SPORT.  347 

are  "Don  Juan  Tenorio"  and  "El  Zapatero  y  el  Rey."  The 
"Romances"  and  drama  of  "Don  Alvaro  de  Luna,"  by  the 
Duke  of  Rivas,  have  been  very  popular ;  but  no  author  is  so 
deservingly  so  as  Breton  de  los  Herreres,  an  excellent  writer, 
who  has  left  behind  nearly  one  hundred  comedies,  some  of 
which,  "Marcela,"  :'Muerete  y  veras,"  "El  pelo  de  la 
dehesa,"  etc.,  are  perfect  in  their  way. 


Ill 
SPORT 

THE  Bull-fight,  or  rather  Bull  Feast  (Fiesta  de  Toros),  is 
a  modern  sport.  Bulls  were  killed  in  ancient  amphitheaters, 
but  the  present  modus  operandi  is  modern,  and,  however 
based  on  Roman  institutions,  is  indubitably  a  thing  devised 
by  the  Moors  of  Spain,  for  those  in  Africa  have  neither  the 
sport,  the  ring,  nor  the  recollection.  The  principle  was  the 
exhibition  of  horsemanship,  courage  and  dexterity  witn  the 
lance,  for  in  the  early  bull-fight  the  animal  was  attacked  by 
gentlemen  armed  only  with  the  Rejon,  a  short  projectile 
spear  about  four  feet  long.  This  was  taken  from  the  origi- 
nal Iberian  spear,  the  Sparus  of  Sil.  Ital.  (viii.  523),  the 
Lancea  of  Livy  (xxxiv.  15),  and  is  seen  in  the  hands  of  the 
horsemen  of  the  old  Romano-Iberian  coinage.  To  be  a  good 
rider  and  lancer  was  essential  to  the  Spanish  Caballero. 
This  original  form  of  bull-fight  (now  only  given  on  grand 
occasions)  is  called  a  Fiesta  Real.  Such  a  one  Philip  IV. 
exhibited  on  the  Plaza  Mayor  of  Madrid  before  Charles  I.  of 
England;  Ferdinand  VII.  in  1833,  as  the  ratification  of  the 
Juramento,  the  swearing  allegiance  to  Isabella  II. ;  and  Al- 
fonso XII.,  on  his  marriages,  January  23,  1878,  and  No- 
vember 29,  1879. 

These  Fiestas  Reales  form  the  coronation  ceremonial  of 
Spain,  and  the  Caballeros  en  Plaza  represent  our  champions. 
Bulls  were  killed,  but  no  beef  eaten ;  as  a  banquet  was  never 
a  thing  of  Iberia. 

The  final  conquest  of  the  Moors,  and  the  subsequent  ces- 
sation of  the  border  chivalrous  habits  of  Spaniards,  and  espe- 
cially the  accession  of  Philip  V.,  proved  fatal  to  this  ancient 
usage  of  Spain.  The  spectacle,  which  had  withstood  the  in- 
fluence of  Isabella  the  Catholic,  and  had  beaten  the  Pope's 
Bulls,  bowed  before  the  despotism  of  fashion,  and  by  becom- 


348  HISTORY   OF   SPAIN. 


ing  the  game  of  professionals  instead  of  that  of  gentlemen  it 
was  stripped  of  its  chivalrous  character,  and  degenerated  into 
the  vulgar  butchery  of  low  mercenary  bull-fighters,  just  as 
did  the  .rings  and  tournaments  of  chivalry  into  those  of 
ruffian  pugilists. 

The  Spanish  bulls  have  been  immemorially  famous.  Her- 
cules, that  renowned  cattle-fancier,  was  lured  into  Spain  by 
the  lowing  of  the  herds  of  Geryon,  the  ancestor  (se  dice)  of 
the  Duque  de  Osuna.  The  best  bulls  in  Andalusia  are  bred 
by  Cabrera  at  Utrera,  in  the  identical  pastures  where  Ger- 
yon's  herds  were  pastured  and  "lifted"  by  the  demigod, 
whence,  according  to  Strabo  (iii.  169),  they  were  obliged, 
after  fifty  days'  feeding,  to  be  driven  off  from  fear  of  burst- 
ing from  fat.  Some  of  the  finest  Castilian  bulls,  such  as  ap- 
pear at  Madrid,  are  bred  on  the  Jarama,  near  Aranjuez. 

Bull  fights  are  extremely  expensive,  costing  from  one  thou- 
sand five  hundred  dollars  to  two  thousand  dollars  apiece; 
accordingly,  except  in  the  chief  capitals  and  Andalusia, 
they  are  only  got  up  now  and  then,  on  great  church  fes- 
tivals and  upon  royal  and  public  rejoicings.  As  Andalu- 
sia is  the  headquarters  of  the  ring,  and  Seville  the  capital, 
the  alma  mater  of  the  tauromachists  of  the  Peninsula,  the 
necessity  of  sending  to  a  distance  for  artists  and  animals  in- 
creases the  expense.  The  prices  of  admittance,  compared  to 
the  wages  of  labor  in  Spain,  are  high. 

The  profits  of  the  bull-fight  are  usually  destined  for  the 
support  of  hospitals,  and,  certainly,  the  fever  and  the  frays 
subsequent  to  the  show  provide  patients  as  well  as  funds. 
The  Plaza  is  usually  under  the  superintendence  of  a  society 
of  noblemen  and  gentlemen,  called  Maestranzas,  instituted 
in  1562,  by  Philip  II.,  in  the  hope  of  improving  the  breed  of 
Spanish  horses  and  men-at-arms. 

The  first  thing  is  to  secure  a  good  place  beforehand,  by 
sending  for  a  Boletin  de  Sombra,  a  "ticket  in  the  shade." 
The  prices  of  the  seats  vary  according  to  position ;  the  best 
places  are  on  the  northern  side,  in  the  shade.  The  transit  of 
the  sun  over  the  Plaza,  the  zodiacal  progress  into  Taurus,  is 
certainly  not  the  worst  calculated  astronomical  observation 
in  Spain :  the  line  of  shadow  defined  on  the  arena  is  marked 
by  a  gradation  of  prices.  The  sun  of  torrid,  tawny  Spain, 
on  which  it  once  never  set,  is  not  to  be  trifled  with,  and  the 
summer  season  is  selected  because  pastures  are  plentiful, 
which  keep  the  bulls  in  good  condition,  and  the  days  are 
longer.  The  fights  take  place  in  the  afternoon,  when  the 


SPANISH  ART,  LITERATURE,  AND   SPORT.  349 

sun  is  less  vertical.  The  different  seats  and  prices  are  de- 
tailed in  the  bills  of  the  play,  with  the  names  of  the  combat- 
ants, and  the  colors  and  breeds  of  the  bulls. 

The  day  before  the  fight  the  bulls  destined  for  the  spec- 
tacle are  brought  to  a  site  outside  the  town.  No  amateur 
should  fail  to  ride  out  to  the  pastures  from  whence  the  cattle 
(ganado)  are  selected.  The  encierro,  the  driving  them  from 
this  place  to  the  arena,  is  a  service  of  danger,  but  is  ex- 
tremely picturesque  and  national.  No  artist  or  aficionado 
should  omit  attending  it.  The  bulls  are  enticed  by  tame 
oxen,  cabestros,  into  a  road  which  is  barricaded  on  each 
side,  and  then  are  driven  full  speed  by  the  mounted  conoce- 
dores  into  the  Plaza.  It  is  so  exciting  a  spectacle  that  the 
poor  who  cannot  afford  to  go  to  the  bull-fight  risk  their  lives 
and  cloaks  in  order  to  get  the  front  places,  and  the  best 
chance  of  a  stray  poke  en  passant. 

The  next  afternoon  (Sunday  is  usually  the  day)  all  the 
world  crowds  to  the  Plaza  de  toros;  nothing,  when  the  tide 
is  full,  can  exceed  the  gayety  and  sparkle  of  a  Spanish  public 
going,  eager  and  dressed  in  their  best,  to  the  fight.  All  the 
streets  or  open  spaces  near  the  outside  of  the  arena  are  a 
spectacle.  The  bull-fight  is  to  Madrid  what  a  review  is  to 
Paris,  and  the  Derby  to  London.  Sporting  men  now  put  on 
all  their  majp-finery ;  the  distinguished  ladies  wear  on  these 
occasions  white  lace  mantillas ;  a  fan,  abanico,  is  quite  neces- 
sary, as  it  was  among  the  Romans.  The  aficionados  and 
"the  gods"  prefer  the  pit,  tendido,  the  lower  range,  in  order, 
by  being  nearer,  that  they  may  not  lose  the  nice  traits  of 
tauromaquia.  The  Plaza  has  a  language  to  itself,  a  dialect 
peculiar  to  the  ring.  The  coup  d'ceil  on  entrance  is  unique; 
the  classical  scene  bursts  on  the  foreigner  in  all  the  glory  of 
the  south,  and  he  is  carried  back  to  the  Coliseum  under  Corn- 
modus.  The  president  sits  in  the  center  box.  The  proceed- 
ings open  with  the  procession  of  the  performers,  the  mounted 
spearmen,  picadores;  then  follow  the  chulos,  the  attendants 
on  foot,  who  wear  their  silk  cloaks,  capas  de  durancillo,  in  a 
peculiar  manner,  with  the  arms  projecting  in  front;  and, 
lastly,  the  slayers,  the  espadas,  and  the  splendid  mule-team, 
el  tiro,  which  is  destined  to  carry  off  the  slain.  The  profes- 
sion of  bull-fighter  is  very  low-caste  in  Spain,  although  the 
champions  are  much  courted  by  some  young  nobles,  like  the 
British  blackguard  boxers,  and  are  the  pride  and  darlings  of 
all  the  lower  classes.  Those  killed  on  the  spot  were  formerly 
denied  the  burial  rites,  as  dying  without  confession,  but  a 


350  HISTORY    OF   SPAIN. 

priest  is  now  in  attendance  with  Su  Magestad  (the  conse- 
crated Host),  ready  to  give  always  spiritual  assistance  to  a 
dying  combatant. 

When  all  the  bull-fighting  company  have  advanced  and 
passed  the  president,  a  trumpet  sounds ;  the  president  throws 
the  key  of  the  cell  of  the  bull  to  the  alguacil  or  policeman, 
which  he  ought  to  catch  in  his  feathered  hat.  The  differ- 
ent performers  now  take  their  places  as  fielders  do  at  a 
cricket  match.  The  bull-fight  is  a  tragedy  in  three  acts, 
lasts  about  twenty  minutes,  and  each  consists  of  precisely 
the  same  routine.  From  six  to  eight  bulls  are  usually  killed 
during  each  "funcion";  occasionally  another  is  conceded 
to  popluar  clamor,  which  here  will  take  no  denial. 

"When  the  door  of  the  cell  is  opened,  the  public  curiosity 
to  see  the  first  rush  out  is  intense ;  and  as  none  knows  whether 
the  bull  will  behave  well  or  ill,  all  are  anxious  to  judge  of 
his  character  from  the  way  he  behaves  upon  first  enter- 
ing the  ring.  The  animal,  turned  from  his  dark  cell  into 
glare  and  crowd,  feels  the  novelty  of  his  position;  but  is 
happily  ignorant  of  his  fate,  for  die  he  must,  however  skillful 
or  brave  his  fight.  This  death  does  not  diminish  the  sustained 
interest  of  the  spectators  as  the  varied  chances  in  the  progress 
of  the  acts  offer  infinite  incidents  and  unexpected  combina- 
tions. In  the  first  of  the  three  acts  the  picadores  are  the 
chief  performers;  three  of  them  are  now  drawn  up,  one 
behind  the  other,  to  the  right  at  the  tablas,  the  barrier  be- 
tween the  arena  and  spectators ;  each  sits  bolt  upright  on  his 
Rosinante,  with  his  lance  in  his  rest,  and  as  valiant  as  Don 
Quixote.  They  wear  the  broad-brimmed  Thessalian  hat; 
their  legs  are  cased  with  iron  and  leather,  which  gives  a 
heavy  look ;  and  the  right  one,  which  is  presented  to  the  bull, 
is  the  best  protected.  This  greave  is  termed  la  mona — the 
more  scientific  name  is  gregoriana,  from  the  inventor,  Don 
Gregorio  Gallo — just  as  we  say  a  spencer,  from  the  noble 
earl.  The  spear,  garrocha,  is  defensive  rather  than  offen- 
sive; the  blade  ought  not  to  exceed  one  inch;  the  sheath- 
ing is,  however,  pushed  back  when  the  picador  anticipates 
an  awkward  customer.  When  the  bull  charges,  the  picador, 
holding  the  lance  under  his  right  arm,  pushes  to  the  right, 
and  turns  his  horse  to  the  left ;  the  bull,  if  turned,  passes  on 
to  the  next  picador.  This  is  called  recibir,  to  receive  the 
point.  If  a  bull  is  turned  at  the  first  charge,  he  seldom 
comes  up  well  again.  A  bold  bull  is  sometimes  cold  and 
shy  at  first,  but  grows  warmer  by  being  punished.  Those 


SPANISH  ART,  LITERATURE,  AND  SPORT.  351 

who  are  very  active,  those  who  paw  the  ground,  are  not 
much  esteemed ;  they  are  hooted  by  the  populace,  and  exe- 
crated as  goats,  little  calves,  cows,  which  is  no  compliment  to 
a  bull;  and,  however  unskilled  in  bucolics,  all  Spaniards  are 
capital  judges  of  bulls  in  the  ring.  Such  animals  as  show 
the  white  feather  are  loathed,  as  depriving  the  public  of  their 
just  rights,  and  are  treated  with  insult,  and,  moreover, 
soundly  beaten  as  they  pass  near  the  tablas,  by  forests  of 
sticks,  la  cachiporra.  The  stick  of  the  elegant  majo,  when 
going  to  the  bull-fight,  is  sui  generis,  and  is  called  la  chivata ; 
taper,  and  between  four  and  five  feet  long,  it  terminates  in 
a  lump  or  knob,  while  the  top  is  forked,  into  which  the 
thumb  is  inserted.  This  chivata  is  peeled,  like  the  rods  of 
Laban,  in  alternate  rings,  black  and  white  or  red.  The 
lower  classes  content  themselves  with  a  common  shillalah ; 
one  with  a  knob  at  the  end  is  preferred,  as  administering  a 
more  impressive  whack.  "While  a  slow  bull  is  beaten  and 
abused,  a  murderous  bull,  duro  chocante  carnicero  y  pega- 
joso,  who  kills  horses,  upsets  men,  and  clears  the  plaza, 
becomes  deservedly  a  universal  favorite ;  the  conquering  hero 
is  hailed  with  "Viva  toro!  viva  toro!  bravo  toro!"  Long 
life  is  wished  to  the  poor  beast  by  those  who  know  he  must 
be  killed  in  ten  minutes. 

The  horses  destined  for  the  plaza  are  of  no  value; 
this  renders  Spaniards,  who  have  an  eye  chiefly  to  what 
a  thing  is  worth,  indifferent  to  their  sufferings.  If  you 
remark  how  cruel  it  is  to  "let  that  poor  horse  struggle  in 
death's  agonies,"  they  will  say,  "Ah  que!  na  vale  na" 
("Oh!  he  is  worth  nothing").  When  his  tail  quivers  in  the 
last  death-struggle,  the  spasm  is  remarked  as  a  jest,  mira 
que  cola !  The  torture  of  the  horse  is  the  blot  of  the  bull- 
fight :  no  lover  of  the  noble  beast  can  witness  his  sufferings 
without  disgust ;  the  fact  of  these  animals  being  worth  noth- 
ing in  a  money  point  of  view  increases  the  danger  to  the 
rider;  it  renders  them  slow,  difficult  to  manage,  and  very 
unlike  those  of  the  ancient  combats,  when  the  finest  steeds 
were  chosen,  quick  as  lightning,  turning  at  touch,  and  escap- 
ing the  deadly  rush:  the  eyes  of  these  poor  animals,  who 
would  not  otherwise  face  the  bull,  are  bound  with  a  handker- 
chief like  criminals  about  to  be  executed ;  thus  they  await 
blindfold  the  fatal  rip  which  is  to  end  their  life  of  misery. 
If  only  wounded,  the  gash  is  sewed  up  and  stopped  with 
tow,  as  a  leak !  and  life  is  prolonged  for  new  agonies.  When 
the  poor  brute  is  dead  at  last,  his  carcass  is  stripped  as  in 


352  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

a  battle.  The  high-class  Spaniard  admits  and  regrets  the 
cruelty  to  the  horses,  but  justifies  it  as  a  necessity.  The 
bull,  says  he,  is  a  tame,  almost  a  domestic  animal,  and 
would  never  fight  at  all  unless  first  roused  by  the  sight  of 
blood.  The  wretched  horse  is  employed  for  this  purpose  as 
a  corpus  vile;  and  the  bull,  having  gored  him  once  or  twice, 
becomes  "game." 

The  picadores  are  subject  to  hairbreadth  escapes  and 
severe  falls :  few  have  a  sound  rib  left.  The  bull  often  tosses 
horse  and  rider  in  one  run ;  and  when  the  victims  fall  on  the 
ground,  exhausts  his  rage  on  his  prostrate  enemies,  till  lured 
away  by  the  glittering  cloaks  of  the  chulos,  who  come  to  the 
assistance  of  the  fallen  picador.  These  horsemen  often  show 
marvelous  skill  in  managing  to  place  their  horses  as  a  ram- 
part between  them  and  the  bull.  When  these  deadly  strug- 
gles take  place,  when  life  hangs  on  a  thread,  the  amphithe- 
ater is  peopled  with  heads.  Every  expression  of  anxiety, 
eagerness,  fear,  horror,  and  delight  is  stamped  on  speaking 
countenances.  These  feelings  are  wrought  up  to  a  pitch 
when  the  horse,  maddened  with  wounds  and  terror,  plunging 
in  the  death-struggle,  the  crimson  streams  of  blood  streaking 
his  sweat-whitened  body,  flies  from  the  infuriated  bull,  still 
pursuing,  still  goring :  then  is  displayed  the  nerve,  presence 
of  mind,  and  horsemanship  of  the  undismayed  picador.  It 
is,  in  truth,  a  piteous  sight  to  see  the  poor  dying  horses  tread- 
ing out  their  entrails,  yet  saving  their  riders  unhurt.  The 
miserable  steed,  when  dead,  is  dragged  out,  leaving  a  bloody 
furrow  on  the  sand.  The  picador,  if  wounded,  is  carried  out 
and  forgotten — los  muertos  y  idos,  no  tienen  amigos  (the 
dead  and  absent  have  no  friends) — a  new  combatant  fills  the 
gap,  the  battle  rages,  he  is  not  missed,  fresh  incidents  arise, 
and  no  time  is  left  for  regret  or  reflection.  The  bull  bears 
on  his  neck  a  ribbon,  la  devisa ;  this  is  the  trophy  which  is 
most  acceptable  to  the  querida  of  a  buen  torero.  The  bull 
is  the  hero  of  the  scene,  yet,  like  Milton's  Satan,  he  is  fore- 
doomed and  without  reprieve.  Nothing  can  save  him  from 
the  certain  fate  which  awaits  all,  whether  brave  or  cowardly. 
The  poor  creatures  sometimes  endeavor  in  vain  to  escape, 
and  leap  over  the  barrier  (barrera),  into  the  tendido,  among 
the  spectators,  upsetting  sentinels,  water-sellers,  etc.,  and 
creating  a  most  amusing  hubbub.  The  bull  which  shows 
this  craven  turn — un  tunante  cobarde  picaro — is  not  deemed 
worthy  of  a  noble  death,  by  the  sword.  He  is  baited,  pulled 
down,  and  stabbed  in  the  spine.  A  bull  that  flinches  from 


SPANISH  ART,  LITERATURE,  AND  SPORT.  35o 

death  is  scouted  by  all  Spaniards,  who  neither  beg  for  their 
own  life  nor  spare  that  of  a  foe. 

At  the  signal  of  the  president,  and  sound  of  a  trumpet, 
the  second  act  commences  with  the  chulos.  This  word 
chulo  signifies,  in  the  Arabic,  a  lad,  a  clown,  as  at  our  cir- 
cus. They  are  picked  young  men,  who  commence  in  these 
parts  their  tauromachian  career.  The  duty  of  this  light  di- 
vision is  to  draw  off  the  bull  from  the  picador  when  endan- 
gered, which  they  do  with  their  colored  cloaks ;  their  address 
and  agility  are  surprising,  they  skim  over  the  sand  like  glit- 
tering humming-birds,  scarcely  touching  the  earth.  They 
are  dressed,  a  lo  majo,  in  short  breeches,  and  without  gait- 
ers, just  like  Figaro  in  the  opera  of  the  "Barbiere  de  Sevilla." 
Their  hair  is  tied  into  a  knot  behind,  mono,  and  inclosed  in 
the  once  universal  silk  net,  the  redecilla — the  identical  reticu- 
lum — of  which  so  many  instances  are  seen  on  ancient  Etrus- 
can vases.  No  bull-fighter  ever  arrives  at  the  top  of  his  pro- 
fession without  first  excelling  as  a  chulo  (apprentice),  then 
he  begins  to  be  taught  how  to  entice  the  bull,  llamar  al  toro, 
and  to  learn  his  mode  of  attack,  and  how  to  parry  it.  The 
most  dangerous  moment  is  when  these  chulos  venture  out 
into  the  middle  of  the  plaza,  and  are  followed  by  the  bull  to 
the  barrier,  in  which  there  is  a  small  ledge,  on  which  they 
place  their  foot  and  vault  over,  and  a  narrow  slit  in  the  board- 
ing, through  which  they  slip.  Their  escapes  are  marvelous ; 
they  seem  really  sometimes,  so  close  is  the  run,  to  be  helped 
over  the  fence  by  the  bull's  -horns.  Occasionally  some  curi- 
ous suertes  are  exhibited  by  chulos  and  expert  toreros,  which 
do  not  strictly  belong  to  the  regular  drama,  such  as  the  suerte 
de  la  capa,  where  the  bull  is  braved  with  no  other  defense  but 
a  cloak:  another,  the  sal  to  tras  cuerno,  when  the  performer, 
as  the  bull  lowers  his  head  to  toss  him,  places  his  foot  be- 
tween his  horns  and  is  lifted  over  him.  The  chulos,  in  the 
second  act,  are  the  sole  performers;  another  exclusive  part 
is  to  place  small  barbed  darts,  banderillas,  which  are  orna- 
mented with  cut  paper  of  different  colors,  on  each  side  of  the 
neck  of  the  bull.  The  banderilleros  go  right  up  to  him,  hold- 
ing the  arrows  at  the  shaft's  end,  and  pointing  the  barbs  at 
the  bull;  just  when  the  animal  stoops  to  toss  them,  they  dart 
them  into  his  neck  and  slip  aside.  The  service  appears  to 
be  more  dangerous  than  it  is,  but  it  requires  a  quick  eye,  a 
light  hand  and  foot.  The  barbs  should  be  placed  exactly  on 
each  side — a  pretty  pair,  a  good  match — buenos  pares.  Some- 
times these  arrows  are  provided  with  crackers,  which,  by 


354  HISTORY  OF  SPAIN. 

means  of  a  detonating  powder,  explode  the  moment  they  are 
affixed  in  the  neck,  banderillas  de  fuego.  The  agony  of  the 
tortured  animal  frequently  makes  him  bound  like  a  kid,  to 
the  frantic  delight  of  the  people.  A  very  clever  banderillero 
will  sometimes  seat  himself  in  a  chair,  wait  for  the  bull's  ap- 
proach, plant  the  arrows  in  his  neck,  and  slip  away,  leaving 
the  chair  to  be  tossed  into  the  air.  This  feat  is  uncommon, 
and  gains  immense  applause. 

The  last  trumpet  now  sounds ;  the  arena  is  cleared  for 
the  third  act;  the  espada,  the  executioner,  the  man  of  death, 
stands  before  his  victim  alone,  and  thus  concentrates  in  him- 
self an  interest  previously  frittered  among  the  number  of 
combatants.  On  entering,  he  addresses  the  president,  and 
throws  his  montera,  his  cap,  to  the  ground,  and  swears  he 
will  do  his  duty.  In  his  right  hand  he  holds  a  long  straight 
Toledan  blade,  la  spada;  in  his  left  he  waves  the  muleta,  the 
red  flag,  the  engano,  the  lure,  which  ought  not  (so  Romero 
laid  down)  to  be  so  large  as  the  standard  of  a  religious  brother- 
hood (cofradia),  nor  so  small  as  a  lady's  pocket-handkerchief 
(panuelito  de  senorita) :  it  should  be  about  a  yard  square. 
The  color  is  red,  because  that  best  irritates  the  bull  and  con- 
ceals blood.  There  is  always  a  spare  matador,  in  case  of  ac- 
cidents, which  may  happen  in  the  best  regulated  bull-fights; 
he  is  called  media  espada,  or  sobresaliente.  The  espada  (el 
diestro,  the  cunning  in  fence  in  olden  books)  advances  to  the 
bull,  in  order  to  entice  him  toward  him — citarlo  a  la  suerte, 
a  la  jurisdiccion  del  engano — to  subpoena  him,  to  get  his  head 
into  chancery,  as  our  ring  would  say ;  he  next  rapidly  studies 
his  character,  plays  with  him  a  little,  allows  him  to  run  once 
or  twice  on  the  muleta,  and  then  prepares  for  the  coup  de 
grace.  There  are  several  sorts  of  bulls — levantados,  the  bold 
and  rushing;  parados,  the  slow  and  sly;  aplomados,  the 
heavy  and  leaden.  The  bold  are  the  easiest  to  kill;  they 
rush,  shutting  their  eyes,  right  on  to  the  lure  or  flag.  The 
worst  of  all  are  the  sly  bulls ;  when  they  are  mar  raj  os,  cun- 
ning and  not  running  straight,  when  they  are  revueltos, 
when  they  stop  in  their  charge  and  run  at  the  man  instead 
of  the  flag,  they  are  most  dangerous.  The  espada  who  is 
long  killing  his  bull,  or  shows  the  white  feather,  is  insulted 
by  the  jeers  of  the  impatient  populace;  he  nevertheless  re^ 
mains  cool  and  collected,  in  proportion  as  the  spectators  and 
bull  are  mad.  There  are  many  suertes  or  ways  of  killing 
the  bull ;  the  principal  is  la  suerte  de  frente — the  espada  re- 
ceives the  charge  on  his  sword,  lo  mato  de  un  recibido.  The 


SPANISH  ART,  LITERATURE,   AND  SPORT.  355 

volapie,  or  half -volley,  is  beautiful,  but  dangerous;  the  mata- 
dor takes  him  by  advancing,  corriendoselo.  A  firm  hand, 
eye,  and  nerve  form  the  essence  of  the  art ;  the  sword  enters 
just  between  the  left  shoulder  and  the  blade.  In  nothing  is 
the  real  fancy  so  fastidious  as  in  the  exact  nicety  of  the  plac- 
ing this  death- wound ;  when  the  thrust  is  true — buen  estoque 
— death  is  instantaneous,  and  the  bull,  vomiting  forth  blood, 
drops  at  the  feet  of  his  conqueror,  who,  drawing  the  sword, 
waves  it  in  triumph  over  the  fallen  foe.  It  is  indeed  the  tri- 
umph of  knowledge  over  brute  force;  all  that  was  fire,  fury, 
passion,  and  life,  falls  in  an  instant,  still  forever. 

The  team  of  mules  now  enter,  glittering  with  flags,  and 
tinkling  with  bells,  whose  gay  decorations  contrast  with  the 
stern  cruelty  and  blood ;  the  dead  bull  is  carried  off  at  a  rapid 
gallop,  which  always  delights  the  populace.  The  espada 
wipes  the  hot  blood  from  his  sword,  and  bows  with  admir- 
able sangfroid  to  the  spectators,  who  throw  their  hats  into 
the  arena,  a  compliment  which  he  returns  by  throwing  them 
back  again. 

When  a  bull  will  not  run  at  all  at  the  picador,  or  at  the 
muleta,  he  is  called  a  toro  abanto,  and  the  media  luna,  the 
half-moon,  is  called  for;  this  is  the  cruel  ancient  Oriental 
mode  of  houghing  the  cattle  (Joshua  xi.  6).  The  instrument 
is  the  Iberian  bident — a  sharp  steel  crescent  placed  on  a  long 
pole.  The  cowardly  blow  is  given  from  behind;  and  when 
the  poor  beast  is  crippled,  an  assistant,  the  cachetero,  pierces 
the  spinal  marrow  with  his  cachete — puntilla,  or  pointed  dag- 
ger— with  a  traitorous  stab  from  behind.  This  is  the  usual 
method  of  slaughtering  cattle  in  Spain.  To  perform  all  these 
operations  (el  desjarretar)  is  considered  beneath  the  dignity 
of  the  matadores  or  espadas ;  some  of  them,  however,  will 
kill  the  bull  by  plunging  the  point  of  their  sword  in  the 
vertebrae,  el  descabellar — the  danger  gives  dignity  to  the 
difficult  feat.  The  identical  process  obtains  in  each  of  the 
fights  that  follow.  After  a  short  collapse,  a  fresh  object 
raises  a  new  desire,  and  the  fierce  sport  is  renewed  through 
eight  repetitions;  and  not  till  darkness  covers  the  heavens 
do  the  mob  retire  to  sacrifice  the  rest  of  the  night  to  Bacchus 
and  Venus,  with  a  passing  homage  to  the  knife. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLES 


NO.  I 

Carthaginian  Domination  in  Spain 238  to  200  B.c. 

Roman  Domination  200  B.C.  to  414  A.D. 

Visigothic  Domination 414  A.D.  to  711  A.D. 


Visigothic  Kings 

A.D. 

Ataulfo 414,  D.  417 

Sigerico 417 

Walia 420 

Teodoredo 451 

Turismundo 454 

Teodorico 466 

Eurico 483 

This  king,  after  conquering  the 
Suevi  and  other  races,  is  con- 
sidered the  founder  of  the  mon- 
archy. 

Alarico D.  505 

Gesaleico 510 

Amalarico 531 

Teudis 548 

Teudiselo 549 

Agila 554 

Atanagildo 567 

Liuva  I 572 

Leovigildo • 586 

After  destroying  the  barbari- 
ans that  still  remained  in  the 
country,  he  was  the  first  king 
who  ruled  over  the  whole  of  the 
Peninsula. 

Recaredo  1 601 

Summoned  the  3d  Council  of 
Toledo,  renounced  Arianism,and 
became  the  first  Catholic  king  of 
Spain. 

Liuvall 603 

Witerico 610 

Gundemaro 612 

Sisebuto 621 

Recaredo  H 621 

Suintila 631 

Sisenando 635 

Tulga '. 640 

Chindasvinto 650 

Recesvinto 672 

Wamba 680 

Ervigio 687 

Egica 701 

Witiza 709 

Don  Rodrigo 711 

The  Moors  entered  Spain  and 
defeated  Don  Rodrigo  at  the  bat- 

(356) 


tie  of  Gnadalete,  who  disappeared 
there.  The  M  oors  occupied  in  the 
two  following  years  almost  the 
whole  of  the  Peninsula,  and  gov- 
erned under  the  dependence  of 
the  Caliphs  of  Damascus. 

Moorish  Rulers  in  Spain 

Emirs  dependent  on  the 
Caliphs  of  Damascus 711-715 

Independent  Caliphate  es- 
tablished by  the  Omme- 
yah  family, the  capital  be- 
ing Cordova 755-1009 

Kings  of  Taifas,  governors 
of  the  provinces  which  de- 
clared themselves  inde- 
pendent during  the  last 
Caliphate,  Hischen  n 1009-1090 

The  Almoravides  from  Af- 
rica established  them- 
selves in  the  Moorish  ter- 
ritory of  the  Peninsula..  1090-1157 

The  Almohades  conquered 
the  Almoravides 1157-1212 

Kings  of  Granada.  The 
Moorish  domination  is 
reduced  to  the  kingdom 

of  Granada     1226-1493 

The  rule  of  the  Moors  in  Spain 
ends  in  1492,  at  the  conquest  of 
Granada. 

Kings  of  Asturias,  Leon,  and 

Castile 

Pelayo  (the  re-conquest  be- 
gins)   718,  D.  737 

Favila 739 

Alonso  I.,  el  Catolico 757 

Favila    I.   (fixes   his   Court   at 

Oviedo) 768 

Aurelio 774 

Silo 783 

Mauregato 788 

Bermudo  I.,  el  Diacono 795 

Alonso  II.,  el  Casto 843 

Ramiro  1 850 

Ordouol 866 


APPENDIX. 


357 


Alonso  HI.,  el  Magno 910 

Divided  the  kingdom  of  Galicia, 
Leon,  and  Asturias,  among  his 
sons,  the  three  following  kings. 

Garcia 913 

Ordono  U  933 

Fruela  H 924 

Ordono  fixed  his  Court  at  Leon, 
and  here  end  the  named  kings  of 
Asturias. 

Alouso  IV.,  el  Monge 930 

Ramiro  II 950 

Ordono  HI 955 

Sancho  I.,  el  Craso. .   967 

Ramiro  III 983 

Bermudo  n 999 

Alonso  V.,  el  Noble 1038 

Bermudo  HE 1037 

The  territory  of  Castile,  which 
formed  a  separate  state,  gov- 
erned by  Condes,  passed  to  Dona 
Sancha  and  Don  Fernando  I., 
who  entitled  themselves  Kings  of 
Castile  and  Leon. 
Fernando  I.  and  Dona  Sancha..  1065 

Sancho  U.,  el  Fuerte 1073 

Alfonso  VI 1108 

(Conquered  Toledo  in  1085.) 

Dona  Urraca 1136 

Alfonso  VJI.,  el  Emperador 1157 

At  his  death  the  kingdoms  of 
Castile  and  Leon  are  divided 
among  the  six  following  kings : 

Sancho  HI.  (Castilla) 1158 

Fernando  H.  (Leon) 1188 

Alfonso  Vffl.  (Castilla) 1214 

Alfonso  IX.  (Leon) 1230 

Enrique  I.  (Castilla) 1217 

Dona  Berenguela,  who  abdi- 
cated the  crown  of  Castile  in 
favor  of  her  son,  Fernando  HI., 
\vho  inherited  also  the  crown  of 
Leon  from  his  father,  Alfonso  IX. 
Fernando  HI.,  King  of  Castile 

and  Leon 1352 

He  conquered  Cordova,  Jaen, 
and  Seville. 

Alonso  X.,  el  Sabio 1384 

Sancho  IV.,  el  Bravo 1295 

Fernando  IV.,  el  Emplazado  .  1313 

Alonso  XI 1350 

Pedro  I.,  el  Cruel 1369 

Enrique  H.,  el  Bastardo 1379 

Juan  1 1390 

Enrique  HI.,  el  Doliente 1407 

Juan  H 1454 

Enrique  IV.,  el  Impotente 1474 

Dona  Isabel,  la  Catolica 1504 

Fernando  V.  de  Aragon 1516 

Dona  Juana,  la  loca 1555 

Felipe  I.,  e  Hermoso,  first  king 
of  the  house  of  Austria 1505 


Carlos  V.,  Efirperador 1558 

Felipe  H 1598 

Felipe  IH 1621 

Felipe  IV 1665 

Carlos  H 1700 

Felipe  V.  (first  king  of  the  house 

of  Bourbon)  abdicated  in 1734 

Luis  1 17*4 

Felipe  V 1746 

Fernando  VI 1759 

Carlos  m 1788 

Carlos  IV.,  abdicated 1808 

Fernando  VII 1833 

Isabel  H.,  dethroned 1868 

Gobierno  Provisional 1871 

Amadeo  de  Saboya..  .abdicated  1873 

Spanish  Republic , 1874 

Alfonso  XII died  1886 

Kings  of  Navarre. 

The  inhabitants  of  Navarre  be- 
gan the  re-conquest  from  the 
middle  of  the  8th  century.  Their 
rulers  were  called  condes,  or 
kings,  until  Sancho  Abarca  wid- 
ened the  territory ;  from  that 
time  they  are  always  called  kings 
of  Navarre. 

Sancho  Abarca  980-994 

Garcia  HI 1000 

Sancho  III.,  el  Mayor 1088 

Garcia  IV 1057 

Sancho  IV 1076 

Sancho  Ramirez  V 1092 

This  king,  and  the  two  that  fol- 
lowed, were  likewise  kings  of 
Aragon. 

Pedro  1 1106 

Alfonso,  el  Batallador 1134 

Garcia  Ramirez  IV 1150 

Sancho  VI.,  el  Sabio 1194 

Sancho  VH.,  el  Fuerte 1334 

Here  begin  the  kings  of  the 
House  of  Champagne. 

Teobaldo  1 1353 

Teobaldo  H...   1270 

Enrique  1 1273 

Juana  I 1304 

On  her  marriage  with  Philip  le 
Bel,  Navarre  passed  to  the  house 
of  France. 

Luis  Hutin 1316 

Felipe  ie  Long 1330 

Carlos  I.  de  Navarra,  IV. 

de  Francia 1339 

Juana  H 1343 

Carlos  H.  d'Evreux 1387 

Carlos  III 1435 

Dona  Blanca  y  Juan  1 1479 

Francisco  Febo 1483 

Catalina 1512 


358 


APPENDIX. 


Fernando  V.  of  Navarre  took 
possession  in  1512  of  Navarre, 
and  it  was  then  incorporated  with 
Castile. 

Kings  of  Aragon. 
Aragon  belonged  to  the  king- 
dom of  Navarre  until  Sancho  in. 
gave  it  to  his  son  Ramiro. 

Ramirol 1035,  D.  1063 

Sancho  I  1094 

Pedro  1 1104 

Alfonso  I.,  el  Batallador 1134 

Ramiro  II.,  el  Monge 1137 

Aragon  and  Cataluna  are  united. 

Petronila 1162 

Alfonso  II 1196 

Pedro  II 1213 

Jaime  L,  el  Conquistador 1276 

Pedro  III 1285 

Sicily  is  united  to  Aragon. 

Alfonso  m 1291 

Jaime  II  1327 

Alfonso  IV 1336 

Pedro  IV 1387 

Juan  I 1395 

Martin 1410 


Fernando,  el  de  Antequera 1416 

Alfonso  V 1458 

Juan  II 1479 

Fernando  el  Catolico. 

Aragon  passes  to  the  crown  of 
Castile. 

Counts  of  Barcelona. 
In  the  8th  and  9th  centuries 
Cataluna  belonged  to  Charle- 
magne and  his  successors.  Wil- 
fredo  was  the  first  independent 
Conde. 

Wilf redo  el  Belloso 864-898 

Borrell  I 912 

Suniario 917 

Borrell  II.  and  his  brother  Miron    992 

Ramon  Borrell 1018 

Ramon  Berenguer  1 1025 

Ramon  Berenguer  II 1077 

Berenguer  and  Ramon  Beren- 
guer HI 1113 

Ramon  Berenguer  IV 1131 

Ramon  Berenguer  V.  married 
Dona  Petronila  de  Aragon,  and 
this  kingdom  was  incorporated 
with  the  Condado  de  Cataluna. 


NO.  II 

Contemporary  Sovereigns 


The  periods  have  been  selected  during  which  leading  events  in  Spanish 

history  have  occurred. 

A.D. 

Spain. 

England. 

France. 

Rome. 

800 

Alonso  II.  el  Casto 

Egbert 

Charlemagne 

Leo  III. 

877 

Alonso  III.  el  Magno 

Alfred 

Louis  II. 

John  VU. 

996 

Ramiro  III. 

Ethelred  II. 

Hugh  Capet 

Gregory  V. 

1075 

Sancho  II. 

William   the 
Conqueror 

Philip  I. 

Gregory  VU. 

1155 

Alfonso  VII. 

Henry  IL 

Louis  VII. 

(  Adrian  IV. 
(  Breakspeare 

1245 

San  Fernando 

Henry  in. 

St.  Louis 

Innocent  IV. 

1345 

Alfonso  XI. 

Edward  in. 

Philip  VI. 

Benedict  VL 

1360 

Pedro  el  Cruel 

Edward  IU. 

John  II. 

Innocent  VL 

1485 

Isabel  la  Catolica 

Henry  VII. 

Charles  VIII. 

Innocent  VIIL 

1515 

Fernando  de  Aragon 

Henry  VIII. 

Francis  I. 

LeoX. 

1550 

Carlos  V. 

Edward  VI. 

Henry  II 

Paul  HI. 

1560 

Felipe  II. 

Elizabeth 

Charles  IX. 

Pius  IV. 

1644 

Felipe  IV. 

Charles  I. 

Louis  XIV. 

Innocent  X. 

1705 

Felipe  V. 

Anne  " 

Lonis  XIV. 

Clement  XI. 

1760 

Carlos  in. 

George  in. 

Louis  XV. 

Clement  XIII. 

1808 

Fernando  VII. 

George  III. 

Napoleon  I. 

Pius  VII. 

1840 

Isabel  II. 

j 

Louis  Philippe  ) 
Napoleon  III.     j 

j  Gregory  XVI 
1  and  Pius  IX. 

1877 

Alfonso  XII. 

T7ir>t'Al*l  ft 

French  Republic 

Leo  Xm. 

1886 

Cristina,  queen- 

\  ll^lAJilc* 

regent 

• 

1886 

Alfonso  XIII. 

A    000110437     1 


